Zane Trace Halts Late Paint Valley Rally For Key SVC Win

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Zane Trace pulled away in the second half from a close first half contest, only to see Paint Valley storm back in the fourth quarter before the Pioneers held on for a 56-49 win to maintain sole possession of the SVC boys basketball lead to end the first round of conference play.

Paint Valley led most of the first half, holding a 15-11 lead after the first quarter and a 24-19 margin late in the second quarter. Their last lead was 28-26, before the Pioneers’ Landen Jarrell connected on a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half that gave the Pioneers a 29-28 lead at intermission. ZT never trailed again, although the Bearcats threw a major scare at the Pioneers in the closing minutes of the game.

Zane Trace got out to a quick start in the second half for a 39-34 advantage with 3:41 left in the third quarter. By the end of the third period, the Pioneers held a 43-35 lead after outscoring the Bearcats 14-7 in the third frame.

Zane Trace saw their lead grow to 51-39 after a Xzander Ream three-pointer early in the fourth quarter as it appeared the Pioneers were on the verge of a blow-out.

After taking a 53-41 advantage with just over two minutes left, Paint Valley stormed back to close the gap to 53-49 with 1:01 to play, but could not get any closer as Zane Trace closed out with the 56-49 victory to stay unbeaten in the SVC at (7-0/10-2), as the Bearcats slid to (5-2/9-4).

The Pioneers were propelled by Xzander Ream with 23 points- all but 8 in the second half. Kyle Stonerock added 10 points and 9 from Nalin Robinson.

After shooting 62% in the first half, Zane Trace ended the game at 23/39 for a warm 59%, much better than their 22% showing in a loss to Miami Trace on Saturday.

Paint Valley was led by Braylon Robertson’s 17 points- 15 of which came in the first half. Dax Estep turned up the heat late in the game after being held to 2 first half points- ending with 13. Cole Miller was the third Bearcats’ player in double figures with 12.

The Bearcats shot 34% from the field in the game. PV had 15 turnovers compared to 11 for ZT.

While helping themselves, Zane Trace also received a big lift from Piketon, who upset (5-2) Westfall 50-43. This puts the Pioneers up by two games on both Paint Valley and Westfall, heading into conference second round action on Saturday. Zane Trace will open at Unioto.