Chillicothe’s Aaron Elliott may as well been a bank teller Friday night. Late in the game the Cavs guard was open for business under the basket, and the bank was open.

Elliott led all scorers with 26 points (16 in the second half) in Chillicothe’s 73-54 win over Jackson to set up next Friday’s battle at Portsmouth for sole possession of first place
in the SEOAL. The Trojans handed Warren its second loss on the season 69-66 just before the Cavs dusted off Jackson.

Chillicothe used defensive pressure early and got some fast break points to build a 16-8 lead in the first quarter, but 1:20 into the second period, a free throw by Jackson’s Colt Chapman
(20 points) and a three by Luke Eisnaugle (13 points) pulled the Ironmen back to within 18-15.

The difference maker may have been how Chillicothe closed out the first half. Leading 25-21 with 1:48 remaining, MaLik London scored on back-to-back field goal-free throw combos,
Elliott chipped in a basket to spread the lead to nine. A technical foul on the Jackson bench allowed Zach Johnson to tack on a pair of free throws and the Cavs were on their way to a 34-21 lead by intermission.

London and Johnson recorded double-doubles with 17 points and 16 points each with 10 rebounds apiece. Add to it, some assists in the second half, grabbing loose balls and finding banker Elliott for some quick deposits in the second half.

The Cavs shot 56% from the field with the book end quarters being the most efficient (7-of-10 in the first and 9-of-11 in the fourth).

Like Logan last Tuesday, Jackson used the long ball in an attempt to come from behind. While the trailed by double figures throughout the second half, the Ironmen at one point managed to sink three straight baskets from beyond the arc by Tyler Neal, Alec Ray and Eisnaugle but weren’t able to whittle the Cavs’ lead to less than 10 at
62-52.

Jackson slips to 6-8/2-5 while the Cavs improve to 11-4/6-1, keeping pace with the Portsmouth
Trojans.

Chillicothe hosts Gahanna in a non-league makeup game Tuesday. The Freshman and Junior Varsity games will be played at 5:30pm (Frosh in Cox Gym and the JV in Hatton Gym) with the Varsity tipping off about 7:00pm.

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