The Washington Blue Lions welcomed the Chillicothe Cavaliers to town Tuesday evening for the SCOL opener for both teams.
The Blue Lions, playing only a total of six players, were able to come from behind to edge the Cavaliers, 53-52.
Washington (2-0, 1-0) was led by senior Jarett Patton with 20 points. He hit three three-point field goals.
Senior Griffin Shaw scored 10 points, including two three-point shots.
Sophomore Evan Upthegrove scored nine, hitting one three-pointer, senior Kenny Upthegrove scored seven, senior Kory Proby had five points and sophomore Richard Burns Jr. had two points.
For the Cavaliers (0-2, 0-1), senior Seth Barnes was the game’s leading scorer with 16 points.
Junior Branden Maughmer was also in double figures with 13 points and junior Will Roderick added nine.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever played with just six kids before,” Washington head coach Shannon Bartruff said. “Especially against a deep, athletic team like Chillicothe. Our mantra tonight was ‘no excuses — find strength in each other.’ And they did. It was an incredible effort by our guys and they deserve all the credit.
“Through all our adversity, the kids never broke stride,” Bartruff said. “They fought, they believed in each other and they got the job done. Chillicothe is a good basketball team that a lot of people have picked to compete for a league title.
“I thought Richie gave us good effort off the bench,” Bartruff said. “Griffin made some huge plays. I really don’t want to single anybody out. We only played six guys and everybody made plays tonight.
“Every time we play these guys, Coach (Eric) Huffer has them ready and it’s a dogfight,” Bartruff said. “I’m just proud of our guys, I can’t say it enough.”
“I thought the second and third quarter was the difference tonight,” Coach Huffer said. “We kind of lost focus. We gave up 22 points in the second quarter and 15 in the third. That’s just not good.
“I’m proud of the way we fought in the fourth quarter,” Huffer said. “We fought and I’m pleased with that.
“They did a really good job of protecting the paint and containing the dribble,” Huffer said. “They did a really good job of switching screens, making it tough on us.
“We’re still not in shape and it shows in the way we get tired in our offense,” Huffer said. “Our offense is not going to be effective if we just stand and watch the ball. Our offense is a lot of movement, cutting hard, trying to get guys open on the weak side by doing different things. Right now, we’re just not doing that.”
Chillicothe had the good start in this game.
The Cavaliers were unofficially 7 of 13 from the field in the first quarter for 54 percent. They had three turnovers in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, the Blue Lions hit 3 of 8 shots for 38 percent and they committed eight turnovers.
At the end of the first quarter, Chillicothe held a 17-8 lead.
The roles were reversed in the second quarter as the Blue Lions made 8 of 14 shots for 57 percent and cut their turnovers in half to four.
Chillicothe made 4 of 12 shots in the second quarter for 33 percent. They had two turnovers.
Chillicothe took an early 9-2 lead on their way to leading 17-8 after one.
The Cavs led 21-12 early in the second quarter before the Blue Lions went on an 18-4 run, punctuated by a steal and slam dunk by Shaw.
Outscoring Chillicothe 22-8, the Blue Lions held a 30-25 lead at the break.
Washington continued having the hot hand in the third quarter, making 6 of 12 field goal attempts, while Chillicothe made 3 of 12 for 25 percent.
The Blue Lions, having 21 turnovers in the game, had only one in the third quarter.
Washington held its biggest lead to that point, 45-33 at the end of the third quarter.
Once again, the teams alternated with a good offensive period, followed by a not so good period, and also the other way around.
In the fourth quarter, it was Chillicothe’s turn to capture the momentum as they went on a 17-5 run to tie the game, 50-50 with 1:14 to play in the game.
The Cavs made 8 of 16 shots from the floor in the fourth quarter to just 2 of 6 for the Blue Lions. Washington’s turnover total soared from one in the third to eight in the fourth.
Following a time out, Shaw scored for the Blue Lions with 43 seconds to play, giving Washington a 52-50 lead.
After a Cavs’ timeout, the visitors missed a shot. Washington got the rebound and Chillicothe quickly fouled.
The Blue Lions missed the front end of a one-and-one with 20 seconds to play.
This time, Maughmer scored, tying the game, 52-52. The Blue Lions called for a timeout with 8.5 seconds remaining.
Evan Upthegrove was fouled. He made the first free throw and appeared to intentionally miss the second shot.
The Cavs had the ball with 1.5 seconds to play, but the in bounds pass sailed out of play, giving Washington back the ball.
Washington in-bounded the ball. Chillicothe was able to come up with another steal and a shot was heaved from three-quarter court. The shot had the perfect distance, but it hit off the backboard just to the right of the bucket.
The Blue Lions are at East Clinton Friday with the j-v game starting at 6 p.m.
Chillicothe’s next game is Saturday at McClain. The Tigers lost to Wilmington Tuesday night, 43-27.
Elsewhere in the SCOL, the opening night of the final-ever season of the storied, old league, East Clinton defeated Hillsboro, 57-53 and Miami Trace beat Clinton-Massie, 59-51.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 8 22 15 8 — 53
C 17 8 8 19 — 52
WASHINGTON — Jarett Patton 3 (3)-5-20; Evan Upthegrove 3 (1)-0-9; Kory Proby 2-1-5; Kenny Upthegrove 2-3-7; Griffin Shaw 2 (2)-0-10; Richard Burns 1-0-2. TOTALS — 13 (6)-9-53. Free throw shooting: 9 of 12 for 75 percent. Three-point field goals: Patton, 3; Shaw, 2, E. Upthegrove. Field goal shooting: 19 of 40 for 48 percent. Turnovers: 21.
CHILLICOTHE — Branden Maughmer 5 (1)-0-13; Seth Barnes 5 (2)-0-16; Will Roderick 4-1-9; Simon Roderick 2-2-6; Jordan Johnson 1-0-2; Hunter Coffland 1-2-4; Jason Benson 0-0-0; Khaleel Danzy 0-2-2. TOTALS — 18 (3)-7-52. Free throw shooting: 7 of 10 for 70 percent. Three-point field goals: Barnes, 2; Maughmer. Field goal shooting: 21 of 52 for 40 percent. Turnovers: 12.
Cavaliers win j-v game over Blue Lions
Chillicothe won the j-v game against Washington Tuesday, 45-19.
Trevor Rarick led the Blue Lions (0-2) with six points.
Ross Matthews had five points for Washington, Miguel O’Flaherty and George Reno each had three points (Reno scored the Blue Lions’ lone three-point basket) and Drew Moats scored two.
Gabe Arazo, Levi Ludwick, Eli Lynch and Cassius Howland also played for Washington.
Trey Beard led the Cavaliers with 12 points, including two three-point field goals.
A.J. Corbin scored nine (one three), Adrian Beverly and Dalton Conley each scored seven (both with one three-point field goal), Matt Detty scored six and Jayvon Maughmer had four points.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 7 5 3 4 — 19
C 11 8 11 15 — 45
