The Chillicothe Cavaliers returned from a two week quarantine and battled FAC co-leader Jackson tough for three periods before falling 62-43 at Hatton Gymnasium.
The Cavs were once again short handed, playing without starter Jaiden Cain, but trailed only 29-25 at halftime. Jackson hit three consecutive threes in the third quarter and effectively posted up inside to stretch their lead to 44-34 heading to the final eight minutes.
Joel Barnes, the Cavs only senior on senior day, led the Cavaliers with 12 points. Mike Miller also notched 12, while 6’8” Donovan Baker added 9 and 4 blocked shots.
Jackson, an experienced group of juniors and seniors, had great balance. Drew Bragg poured in 18, Braxton Hammond had 16, and Boston Kuhn scored 15. The Ironmen are now 8-1 in FAC play and a final league win will give them a co-championship with Hillsboro.
The visitors shot it well hitting 24-43 shots for 56%. Jackson also hit 6-11 three point shots and were 6-9 from the foul line.
Chillicothe was 17-38 for 45%, but just 1 of 9 from the three point arc. The Cavs suffered 15 turnovers.
Coach Eric Huffer liked the effort after only a couple of practices the past two weeks. “We wore out some and without Jaiden, we are even thinner in depth.”
Chillicothe heads to tournament play Tuesday at Newark in Division 1 sectional action. You can hear the game on WBEX with Greg Bigam and Lou Postage with air time at 6:45 PM.