In a game that was supposed to be played Jan. 19 but winter weather delayed until Tuesday, the Miami Trace Panthers clinched the Frontier Athletic Conference title outright with a 64-53 victory over the Hillsboro Indians.

Miami Trace finished atop the FAC with a 9-1 record and 16-6 overall in the regular season.

Hillsboro ended the regular season at 12-10 overall, 6-4 in the FAC, placing third in the FAC.

Washington won 56-50 at Jackson Tuesday night to go to 15-3 overall, 8-2 in the FAC, good for second place.

Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley began his postgame comments with a tip of the cap to Hillsboro.

“I watched (junior) Tate Davis score 28 points against Washington Court House,” Ackley said. “John Wall, one of the best defenders in the league, guarded him. He’s unbelievable. He keeps you up at night… I thought Coleden May and Bryson Osborne, two more seniors, did a very good job on the freshman (Hillsboro’s Jack Howland who led his team with 22 points). When you put as much attention on Tate (who finished with eight points, all from the free throw line) as we did, it does open some other things up. They had another guy (junior Brayden Hunter) get hot in the second half and hit three threes. You can’t always cover them all.”

Now Miami Trace has a few days to get ready to host Hillsboro again, this time in a Division II sectional tournament game on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. Miami Trace is the No. 5 seed and Hillsboro is the No. 12 seed.

On Tuesday, Miami Trace jumped out to a 6-2 lead. The Indians caught them and took a 9-8 lead only to see Miami Trace finish the first period with a 12-11 lead.

Miami Trace led by as many as eight points in the second quarter, with Hillsboro showing tenacity, drawing back to within four. The Panthers held a 32-22 halftime lead.

It was a 13-point game in favor of the Panthers, 50-37, as the fourth quarter got underway.

An early bucket by Guthrie gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the night, 52-37. Howland hit two threes and scored a total of eight points in the fourth for Hillsboro.

The Panthers, struggling of late at the free throw line, went 10 of 12 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, with Guthrie scoring eight points in the quarter.

Hillsboro fought back until they trailed by just three points, 52-49, with 3:22 remaining in the game. The Indians would get no closer.

Trace sophomore Adam Guthrie was the game’s leading scorer with 24 points. He was 6 of 6 from the foul line. It was another double-double for Guthrie, who had 10 rebounds, five of those on the offensive side, four assists, one steal and two blocked shots.

Freshman Jack Howland led Hillsboro with 22 points.

Hillsboro coach Josh Howland credited his team for their effort to come from 15 down to draw to within three points in the fourth quarter.

“Just the effort from the boys to finish out,” Howland said. “That’s what they do. They play hard all the time. We’ve gotten better. We ended last season, I believe, with four or five wins. We’re looking at 12 wins right now. We’re improving by leaps and bounds, that’s for sure. I couldn’t be more happy with the boys. Essentially, it’s mostly the same boys back again and we get most of them back again next year.

“We’re a young team. We’re excited about the future. It’ll definitely be a challenge in here next Tuesday. We feel like coach Ackley is doing a great job here and the rest of their coaching staff. I know they filled in for him. Trace kind of has a nice blend of seniors and underclassmen. It’ll be a challenge for us next week and we’re excited about it. It’s going to be fun.”

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT 12 20 18 14 — 64

H 11 11 15 16 — 53

MIAMI TRACE — Ben Mathews 0-0-0; Grant Guess 5-2-12; Coleden May 3-0-6; Brady Armstrong 2 (1)-2-9; Austin Boedeker 1-0-2; Adam Guthrie 9-6-24; Bryson Osborne 0 (3)-2-11. TOTALS — 20 (4)-12-64. Free throw shooting: 12 of 16 for 75 percent. Three-point field goals: Osborne, 3; Armstrong. Field goal shooting: 24 of 45 for 53 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 4 of 10 for 40 percent. Rebounds: 24 (8 offensive). Turnovers: 10. Assists: 11. Steals: 7. Blocked shots: 3. Fouls: 15.

HILLSBORO — Mason Dumpert 0-1-1; Tate Davis 0-8-8; Brayden Hunter 1 (3)-0-11; Steven Kibler 1-3-5; Nic Burns 3-0-6; Jack Howland 4 (2)-8-22; Brady Juillerat 0-0-0. TOTALS — 9 (5)-20-53. Free throw shooting: 20 of 29 for 69 percent. Three-point field goals: Hunter, 3; Howland, 2. Field goal shooting: 14 of 35 for 40 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 5 of 16 for 31 percent. Turnovers: 13. Offensive rebounds: 6.

The Miami Trace Panthers junior-varsity boys basketball team defeated Hillsboro Tuesday, Feb. 13, 53-44.

In the reserve game, Miami Trace beat Hillsboro, 53-44. The Panthers finished 10-0 in the FAC, 20-2 overall.

Panther j-v team beats Hillsboro, finishes 20-2 overall, 10-0 in FAC

Hillsboro was led by Tre Conley with 14 points. Lucas Holland made a pair of threes and finished with seven points; Dylan Dixon and Walker Pence each scored six points (Pence had one three); Mason Dumpert scored five points and a trio of players — Brayden Scruggs, Jaishon Captain and Logan Barton — each scored two for the Indians.

In the freshman matchup Miami Trace won 51-27.

For Hillsboro, Hunter Manson made three three-point field goals to lead with nine points. Logan Barton scored six, Zaydenn Scruggs made one three and finished with five points, Tre Conley had four points and Corey Schommer made one three and finished with three points.

Chris Hoppes is the sports editor for the Record-Herald in Washington C.H.