By Dan Ramey
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The Cavaliers completed a mission Saturday night with a 74-64 win over Jackson, completing the Frontier Athletic Conference season undefeated.
Chillicothe grabbed a share of the FAC Boys Basketball title with a win over Miami Trace two weeks ago, and claimed it outright last Friday in a win at Hillsboro.
The victory over Jackson was simply an exclamation point.
Cavs Coach Eric Huffer was happy for his senior class.
“This is a tight group” said Huffer. “They’re close friends and they’re a lot of fun to coach. That (10-0 in the FAC) was a goal at the beginning of the year, one of the very first things we put down on our list of team goals, going undefeated in the league.”
The Cavaliers roared out to a 19-6 lead through the first eight minutes and pushed out to a 41-20 margin at the break. However, just as in their first meeting, Jackson wouldn’t go away quietly. The Ironmen trailed 51-27 with 2:56 remaining in the third period, but closed out on a 13-0 run with efficiency.
Jackson made 7-of-11 shots from the field in the period and 10-of-12 in the fourth cutting the deficit to seven points at 66-59 in the final three minutes of regulation. Chillicothe got back on track with back-to-back baskets from Branden Maughmer and Will Roderick to put the Cavs back up by eleven.
Maughmer led all scorers, pouring in 32. The senior point guard had 18 at the half and finished with a 12 point fourth period. Cooper Donaldson paced the Ironmen attack with 25 after having just 9 points at the intermission.
“Jeckyll and Hyde” said Huffer, groaning over a 20-10 third quarter swing by Jackson. “We won… we accomplished our goal” said Huffer, knowing things got away bit for his team while the Ironmen shot 74% from the field in the second half.
The Cavs’ Coach hopes to return from Sunday’s Central District Division 1 tournament draw with a high enough seeding to host a first round game. Chillicothe wraps up the regular season Tuesday night with a trip to Meigs and post season action begins February 24th and 27th for the 48 team Central District.
JACKSON 64: Cooper Donaldson, 25; Payton Speakman, 13; Caden Donaldson, 8; Carson Spohn, 7; Traylon Davis, 7; Brice Graham, 2; Blake Wyatt, 2; Kendall Neal, 0; TJ Burd, 0.
CHILLICOTHE 74: Branden Maughmer, 32; Simon Roderick, 13; Brandon Noel, 9; Chris Postage, 9; Jayvon Maughmer, 7; Will Roderick, 4; Jason Benson, 0; Jalen Jordan, 0; AJ Corbin, 0; Darius Lawson, 0; Trey Beard, 0.