When the Circleville Lady Tigers arrived at Washington High School for a game against the Lady Blue Lions Wednesday, Dec. 30, they came with a sparkling record of 9-0.
When the horn sounded at the end of 32 minutes of play, Washington had emerged with a 43-41 victory.
Washington stayed close with Circleville until they outscored the round-towners, 12-4 in the third quarter.
The difference may very well have come at the free throw line, where Washington made 10 of 19 to just 2 of 11 for Circleville.
Circleville led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter and 22-18 at the half.
After three quarters of play, Washington held a 30-26 lead.
The Lady Tigers outscored Washington 15-13 in the fourth quarter, but that left the visitors two points short as time expired.
For Washington, senior Jaycie McRoberts was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points.
Freshman Kassidy Hines scored seven, including the team’s only three-point field goal of the game, and senior Alexis Gray had five points.
Anya Bingman led Circleville with 14 points.
Jordin Blakeman scored nine and Mallory Connor and Morgan Bircher each added six points.
“We stuck with man-to-man (defense),” Washington head coach John Persinger said. “They just kind of went cold in the third quarter.
“I thought we did a good job of taking the ball to the basket,” Persinger said. “They got a couple of players in foul trouble and we got to the line more than they did.
“We held their big girl (Lili Kawaski) scoreless,” Persinger said. “Last year she hurt us with several offensive rebounds for putbacks.
“Hopefully this will give us some confidence going into the Miami Trace game,” Persinger said.
The Lady Lions (6-6 overall, 3-4 in the SCOL) are right back in action for the new year Saturday at Miami Trace with the j-v game at 5:30 p.m.
Miami Trace is riding an eight-game winning streak with an overall record of 11-2.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 9 9 12 13 — 43
C 12 10 4 15 — 41
WASHINGTON — Alexis Gray 2-1-5; Jaycie McRoberts 8-5-21; Savannah Wallace 0-0-0; Hannah Haithcock 1-2-4; Wendy Hawk 1-0-2; Kassidy Hines 1 (1)-2-7; Maddy Jenkins 0-0-0; Taylor Smith 2-0-4. TOTALS — 15 (1)-10-43. Free throw shooting: 10 of 19 for 53 percent. Three-point field goal: Hines.
CIRCLEVILLE — Avery Delong 1-0-2; Bryce Delong 0-0-0; Anya Bingman 7-0-14; Lili Kawasaki 0-0-0; Mallory Connor 1 (1)-1-6; Morgan Bircher 0 (2)-0-6; Jordin Blakeman 3 (1)-0-9; Katie McIlroy 0 (1)-1-4. TOTALS — 12 (5)-2-41. Free throw shooting: 2 of 11 for 18 percent. Three-point field goals: Bircher, 2; Connor, Blakeman, McIlroy.
Lady Lion j-v team beats Lady Tigers
In the j-v game Wednesday, Washington edged Circleville, 22-20.
Washington improves to 9-2 overall, remaining 5-2 in the SCOL.
Tabby Woods led Washington with seven points.
Hannah Robinson was the game’s leading scorer for Circleville with eight points.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 1 6 7 8 — 22
C 3 8 5 4 — 20
WASHINGTON — Raven Haithcock 1-0-2; Maddy Garrison 0-0-0; Breanna Taylor 1-2-4; Savanna Davis 0-0-0; Victoria Jones 1-1-3; Tabby Woods 0-7-7; Tahja Pettiford 0-1-1; Ally Funari 1-1-3; Delaney Greer 0-0-0; Taylor Smith 1-0-2. TOTALS — 5-12-22. Free throw shooting: 12 of 34 for 35 percent. Three-point field goals: none.
CIRCLEVILLE — Quinn Dugan 1-1-3; Hailey Robinson 0-0-0; Sydne Parson 0-0-0; Katie Galloway 0-0-0; Abby Keaton 1-1-3; Chole Weiss 0-0-0; Hannah Robinson 3-2-8; Shayna Hoop 3-0-6. TOTALS — 8-4-20. Free throw shooting: 4 of 6 for 67 percent. Three-point field goals: none.
Lady Lions beat Huntington
On Dec. 22, Washington hosted Huntington (from Ross County) and won that game, 53-41.
Washington had a trio in double figures, with senior Alexis Gray leading the way with 14 points.
Senior Jaycie McRoberts and freshman Hannah Haithcock each scored 13 points and freshman Kassidy Hines added eight points.
Dylana Gragg was the game’s leading scorer for Huntington with 15 points. Carolene Cox reached double digits with 12 points.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 8 14 14 17 — 53
H 7 13 6 15 — 41
WASHINGTON — Alexis Gray 5-4-14; Jaycie McRoberts 4-5-13; Savannah Wallace 0-1-1; Hannah Haithcock 4-5-13; Wendy Hawk 2-0-4; Kassidy Hines 1 (2)-0-8; Maddy Jenkins 0-0-0; Taylor Smith 0-0-0. TOTALS — 16 (2)-15-53. Free throw shooting: 15 of 19 for 79 percent. Three-point field goals: Hines, 2.
HUNTINGTON — Dylana Gragg 6-3-15; Carolene Cox 2 (2)-2-12; Kailey Hurley 0-0-0; Caylin Ashcraft 1-0-2; Jillian Snyder 0 (1)-1-4; Rikki Maquill 0 (1)-0-3; Brooklyn Neighbors 1-0-2; Kennedy DeBord 1-1-3. TOTALS —11 (4)-7-41. Free throw shooting: 7 of 12 for 58 percent. Three-point field goals: Cox, 2; Snyder, Maquill.
