The Washington Blue Lions hosted the Division I Chieftains of Logan High School for a non-conference triple header Tuesday, Jan 25.
The game came down to the final four seconds.
With the game tied, 58-58, Logan was set to take the ball out of bounds under their own basket.
The defense was set by the Blue Lions and the ball was in-bounded to a player near half-court.
Washington sophomore Isaiah Haithcock jumped high and was able to tip the ball away. He quickly gained possession and passed to senior Reico Colter, who was streaking toward the basket.
Just before the horn sounded, Colter’s lay-up filtered through the net, giving the Blue Lions a 60-58 win.
“Zay made a great play,” Washington head coach Shannon Bartruff said. “They had one (player) out by the volleyball line. They’re running their other action down low. We did a good job of guarding down there. They basically just had a desperation heave to get it in.
“Zay gets the tip and has the wherewithal to catch it, Reico is streaking down the floor, the fastest kid we’ve got and he gets the layup off,” Bartruff said. “It’s a heck of a way to end the game.
“There’s so much stress on your defense when there is 4.4 (seconds remaining) and you have to guard a baseline out play, because they can run anything,” Bartruff said. “We talked about going zone, but I didn’t like that. I felt like we gave up some easy looks zone baseline out, so we went man and we switched everything, except for the big.
“Again, we did a good job of guarding it,” Bartruff said. “Isaiah and Reico made a heck of a play.
“Reico was great,” Bartruff said of the senior who poured in 30 points, capping his performance with the game-winning basket. “John (Wall) had all 11 of his (points) in the second quarter. Reico had 14 of our 18 points in the first quarter.
“When he’s shooting the ball well, he’s basically unguardable,” Bartruff said of Colter. “When he attacks you, you have to back up. If you don’t back up, he’s going to score a layup on you. If you back up, he can make an 8-10 foot jump shot.
“Their big guy played Tanner tough,” Bartruff said of Logan’s 6-6 junior Cayden Alford, who led the Chieftains with 18 points. “He was physical with him all night. Our guards did a good job of knocking down shots.
“John got hot early,” Bartruff said. “I think we can still continue to do a better job of finding him shots. We just made enough plays.
“Our defense has got to be better,” Bartruff said. “They shot the ball well. They made seven threes, but, the rest of their makes were layups. Tanner had to help up all night and that made it look like (Alford) was killing him. Tanner was doing his job.
“It was a good win,” Bartruff said. “I’m happy we made enough plays at the end to get that one.”
Logan falls to 8-7 with the loss.
Isaiah Haithcock and junior Raliegh Haithcock both scored six points.
Junior Tanner Lemaster scored five and freshman Micah Brown scored two.
Senior Tegan Myers scored 17 points and senior Mason Frasure scored 13 for Logan.
In the j-v game Tuesday, Washington defeated Logan, 39-34.
In the freshman game, it was the Blue Lions over the Chieftains, 42-39.
Washington (9-5 overall) will host Chillicothe Friday at 4:45 p.m.
Blanchester visits Washington High School Saturday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 18 17 16 11 — 60
L 20 13 14 11 — 58
WASHINGTON — Reico Colter 11 (2)-2-30; John Wall 1 (3)-0-11; Raleigh Haithcock 1 (1)-1-6; Troy Thompson 0-0-0; Micah Brown 1-0-2; Tanner Lemaster 2-1-5; Isaiah Haithcock 3-0-6. TOTALS — 19 (6)-4-60. Free throw shooting: 4 of 10 for 40 percent. Three-point field goals: Wall, 3; Colter, 2; R. Haithcock. Field goal shooting: 25 of 51 for 49 percent. Turnovers: 6.
LOGAN — Ashton Mahaffey 0 (2)-0-6; Max Black 0-0-0; Mason Frasure 3 (2)-1-13; Tegan Myers 4 (3)-0-17; Owen Angle 1-2-4; Cayden Alford 7-4-18. TOTALS — 15 (7)-7-58. Free throw shooting: 7 of 10 for 70 percent. Three-point field goals: Myers, 3; Frasure, 2; Mahaffey, 2. Field goal shooting: 22 of 40 for 55 percent. Turnovers: 11.
