The Washington Blue Lions (13-2, 7-1 FAC) had an important road trip on Thursday night as they traveled to take on the Hillsboro Indians (10-9, 5-3 FAC).

It was a must-win for the Blue Lions in order to continue to control their own destiny in the case of defending the Frontier Athletic Conference championship.

Despite leading after the opening quarter, Washington would lose the next three quarters and would ultimately drop the conference game to the Indians, 62-50.

Miami Trace (14-6, 8-1 FAC) can now win an outright FAC championship with a win on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at home against Hillsboro.

Washington now needs a win over Jackson on Tuesday and a Miami Trace loss on Tuesday to claim a share of the league crown.

“Isaiah, Noah, John, Gabe and Will all battled their butts off through a lot of adversity tonight,” said Shannon Bartruff, head basketball coach for Washington. “Congrats to Hillsboro for the win. They had nothing to lose and we knew we had a target on our back going in there. We did not shoot the ball very well, but our energy wasn’t as consistent as it needed to be tonight. We we will have to regroup from tonight, this one’s stings.”

Hillsboro led by as many 16 points in the second half, behind a strong offensive performance from junior Tate Davis who poured in 28 points, with 20 of them coming in the third and fourth quarters.

Freshman Jack Howland also had a big night for the Indians with 18.

Washington was led by senior Isaiah Haithcock who finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points with 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

Senior John Wall was next in scoring with 11 and added four assists, three steals, and a rebound.

Sophomore Noah Haithcock just missed a double, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds, including four offensive. He also blocked four shots, had two steals and one assist.

Senior Gabe Tayese and junior Will Miller each scored five for the Blue Lions. Tayese secured four rebounds and blocked one shot, and Miller recorded one assist.

Senior Garrett Rickman rounded out the scoring with two points, and recorded one rebound.

Washington (13-3, 7-2 FAC) will look to bounce back at home on Saturday with a non conference game against Logan Elm (7-11, 4-7 MSL).The game is scheduled for a 7:15 p.m. varsity tip. Saturday’s game will also be senior night for the Blue Lions.

Hillsboro (11-9, 6-3 FAC) is back home on Friday for a non-league contest against Blanchester (7-11, 4-6 SBAAC) with a 7:30 p.m. varsity tip.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

H 5 16 19 22 — 62

W 6 12 13 19 — 50

WASHINGTON — Garrett Rickman 1-0-2; John Wall 4-3-11; Will Miller 1 (1)-0-5; Noah Haithcock 4-6-10; Gabe Tayese 1-3-5; Isaiah Haithcock 8-1-17; Jacob Lindsey 0-0-0. TOTALS — 17 (1)-13-50. Free throw shooting: 13 of 18 for 72 percent. Three-point field goals: Wall. Field goal shooting: 18 of 45 for 40 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 1 of 14 for 7 percent. Turnovers: 11. Rebounds: 25 (9 offensive). Blocked shots: 7. Assists: 6. Steals: 7.

HILLSBORO — Mason Dumpert 0-0-0; Tate Davis 6 (4)-4-28; Brayden Hunter 4-1-9; Steven Kibler 1 (1)-0-5; Nic Burns 1-0-2; Jack Howland 4 (2)-4-18; Brady Juillerat. TOTALS — 16 (7)-9-62. Free throw shooting: 9 of 11 for 82 percent. Three-point field goals: Davis 4, Howland 2, Kibler. Turnovers: 13.

Blue Lion j-v team defeats Hillsboro

In the j-v contest, Washington would win by a score of 42-30.

Statistically for the Blue Lions, Evan Wilson led all scorers with 16 points, followed by Aden Osborne with nine, Kiontae Tyree with seven, Austin Hughes with three, and Xavier Malone with one.

Washington freshman top Indians

In the freshman contest, the Blue Lions won, 72-39.

Statistically for Washington, Aden Osborne led all scorers with 22 points, followed by Jeston Everhart with 14, Avery Wightman with nine, Javin Baker with six, Bryson Heath and Quinton Marine with five, Jordan Lamb and Cooper Robertson with four and Austin Hughes with one.