A jam-packed Unioto High School Gym was treated to an "instant classic" Saturday in a battle for second place in the SVC. The Zane Trace Pioneers prevailed 49-48 in a game that was almost as evenly matched as two teams could get, even in the stat column.

Both teams had their chances to put the game away in the closing minute. Leading 49-48, ZT missed three one-and-one opportunities in as many trips, only to see the Shermans also miss chances to get the lead on their end of the floor.

Unioto darted to an 11-2 lead out of the gate, but the Pioneers stormed back to pull to within 16-14 after one quarter. Unioto led 27-24 at halftime. Unioto started the second half on a 5-0 run for a 32-24 advantage, but ZT answered with a 14-7 run to cut the deficit to 39-38 after three periods. ZT dashed into the lead early in the fourth quarter, building a 46-41 lead, only to see the Tanks battle-back to tie it at 48-48, before a ZT free throw proved to be the final scoring at 49-48.

The game stats were as close as the final score, with both teams making the same number of field goals with 21, grabbing the same number of rebounds at 20 and both committing 12 turnovers. While Unioto made two more treys than Zane Trace, the Pioneers were 4/9 at the charity stripe to Unioto's 1/3.

ZT shot 21/44- including 3/10 from the arc for 48%, while Unioto was 21/43- including 5/11 from the arc for 49%.

Both teams had three players in double figures. Freshman Pierce Mowery had 13 points, followed by Eric Hutton and Tyler Hinty with 12 and 11 points respectively. Connor Smith added 9 points/6 rebounds, while Wes Beam was held to only 4 points, but grabbed 9 rebounds.

Unioto was led by Bryce Arledge with 13 points, with Nick Corcoran and Kyle Strange scoring 12 & 11 points respectively. Erique Hosley had 6 points/7 rebounds and Chase Detillion was checked on 5 points/8 rebounds. 

Zane Trace improves to (7-2/10-3) as Unioto falls to (6-3/8-6). Both teams have Piketon yet to play, as the Redstreaks drilled Paint Valley 80-42 to maintain a one game lead over Zane Trace and two game spread on Unioto with five SVC games to play.