Lady Lions lose opener to Gahanna

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REYNOLDSBURG — The Washington Lady Blue Lions varsity basketball team opened the 2018-19 season by taking part in the Gary West Memorial Tip-off Classic at Reynoldsburg High School on Friday, Nov. 23.

The opponent was the Gahanna Lincoln Golden Lions.

Gahanna won the game, 69-57.

Junior Shawna Conger led Washington with 23 points, including three three-point field goals.

Senior Hannah Haithcock scored 18 points and junior Rayana Burns added nine points.

Edyn Battle was the game’s leading scorer for Gahanna with 25 points. She hit three three-point buckets.

Morgan Darnell was also in double figures with 12 points.

Gahanna had a strong first quarter to take a 22-9 lead.

Washington chipped away with 18 points to 12 in the second quarter to make it a 34-27 game at the half.

The Golden Lions extended their lead to 14 points (54-40) after three quarters of play.

The Lady Lions were two points better in the fourth quarter, setting the final score at 69-57.

“Gahanna is extremely talented,” Washington head coach Samantha Leach said. “They have lots of speed.

“We got off to a very slow start and they jumped on us early,” Leach said.

Ball control, or lack thereof, was a concern for Washington.

“We turned the ball over way too much from the beginning of the game,” Leach said. “I was very proud of my girls. They never gave up. They just kept fighting. We had it down to three points in the third quarter, but just weren’t able to hold the gap there.

“We had 18 offensive rebounds against Gahanna,” Leach said. “The girls crashed the boards so hard. Against a Division I team of that caliber, that’s really good.

“I was impressed by the effort,” Leach said.

Leach also praised her team’s performance at the free throw line, where they sank 11 of 12 attempts for 92 percent.

Washington (1-1 overall) is back in action Thursday at Circleville with the j-v game starting at 5:30 p.m.

The Lady Lions return home and return to Frontier Athletic Conference play Wednesday, Dec. 5 against Chillicothe.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

W 9 18 13 17 — 57

G 22 12 20 15 — 69

WASHINGTON — Rayana Burns 3-3-9; Bre Taylor 0 (1)-0-3; Tabby Woods 0-0-0; Halli Wall 2-0-4; Shawna Conger 6 (3)-2-23; Maddy Jenkins 0-0-0; Hannah Haithcock 6-6-18. TOTALS — 17 (4)-11-57. Free throw shooting: 11 of 12 for 92 percent. Three-point field goals: Conger, 3; Taylor.

GAHANNA — Alex Vanhorsen 0-0-0; Morgan Darnell 1 (1)-7-12; Joi Bradley 0-0-0; Bella Ward 2-0-4; Edyn Battle 6 (3)-4-25; Kayla Smith 2 (1)-0-7; Madison Hensley 0 (1)-0-3; Gracie Hensley 0-0-0; Gabby Anderson 6-0-12; Kennadi Harris 2-2-6. TOTALS — 19 (6)-9-69. Free throw shooting: 9 of 18 for 50 percent. Three-point field goals: Battle, 3; Darnell, Smith, Hensely.

By Chris Hoppes

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