The Chillicothe Hornets entered Thursday night’s regular season finale against Maryville looking to continue to gain momentum heading into the district tournament. The Hornets had won 7 straight games and were tied in 2nd place in the conference standings at 5-1. The team that they were tied with was their opponent on the night, the Spoofhounds.
With the identical MEC records, a tight and contested game was anticipated. That played out early, as the score was deadlocked at the end of the first quarter, 11-11. Chillicothe relied on their advantage in the paint as James Mathew and Jaishon White combined for 21 points in the first half as the Hornets held a 26-23 halftime lead.
In the 2nd half Chillicothe continued to feed the post, and found great success. The Hornets got better every quarter to ultimately pull away and win resoundingly, 56-40. White recorded his best stat-line of the season with 27 points and 15 boards while fellow forward Mathew finished with 15 points.
Chillicothe concludes the regular season 20-4, with a 6-1 record in the MEC, good for 2nd place, trailing only Benton who finished unbeaten in conference. The Hornets earned the #3 seed in the district tournament and will play #6 Cameron at home on Tuesday night. The winner will play #2 Maryville on Thursday night at Lafayette High School.
Chillicothe 11 26 40 56
Maryville 11 23 32 40
Individual scoring:
Chillicothe – White 27, Mathew 15, Jackson Trout 6, Kenyen Gannan 6, Jack Marshall 2
Maryville – Peyton McCollum 15, Derek Quinlin 15, Matthew Walter 8, Lucas Vierthaler 2
