Zane Trace saw a 14-point lead evaporate as Southeastern rallied to within two points in the fourth quarter, only to see the Pioneers come up big at the foul line in the closing minutes to pull-away for a 51-40 SVC Boys Basketball win, Saturday night.
ZT led 35-21 after three quarters, but the Panthers shaved that deficit to 40-38 with about two minutes to play, only to see the Pioneers finish on an 11-2 run.
Zane Trace held Southeastern to a 11/44 shooting night from the field for 25%- including 4/15 from the arc. Zane Trace improved their 38% first half shooting to 44% for the game on 17/39, although they were only 1/7 from the arc. The Pioneers were 16/24 at the charity stripe, compared to 14/22 for the Panthers.
Southeastern won the boards 31-30. ZT committed 16 turnovers while Southeastern had 13.
The Pioneers' sophomore point-guard Cameron Evans, led all players with 23 points. Isaac Beam added 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Panthers' Lane Ruby led with 14 points and Aaron Gillum had 13. Rex Hartman, who averages 19 points per game, was checked on just 8 points.
Southeastern Coach Rick Strausbaugh told WKKJ Sports Director Mike Smith that 6'0 senior forward Cody Welch might be lost for the rest of the season, after apparently breaking his elbow in a fall during Friday's loss to Paint Valley. Welch was the Panthers leading rebounder prior to his injury.
Elsewhere in the SVC's "Super Saturday", Unioto closes conference play for December at (4-0) with a 73-28 pounding of Westfall. Zane Trace is (3-1) with their win, Paint Valley improves to (3-1) with a 66-57 win over Adena. Piketon is also (3-1) after topping Huntington 67-36.
In SVC Girls Basketball, Unioto and Southeastern head to the Christmas break at (4-0) as both gain victories on Saturday. The Lady Shermans took down Westfall 60-41 and the Lady Panthers beat Zane Trace 57-25. Paint Valley's Lady Bearcats improve to (3-1) with a 49-30 win over Adena and Huntington is also (3-1) with a 53-40 win over Piketon.
94 Country WKKJ returns with SVC broadcast action on January 5th and 6th with back-to-back boys games. Paint Valley travels to Unioto on January 5th and Piketon is at Zane Trace on January 6th.
WKKJ opens SVC girls broadcast coverage on January 9th with the show-down match of Unioto at Southeastern, then January 11th with Piketon's Lady Redstreaks at Paint Valley.
Listen to the WKKJ broadcast of Southeastern at Zane Trace with Mike Smith and Tom Beard on our podcast link below....