It was a match-up of defending Frontier Athletic Conference champions Miami Trace taking on the team that finished second in the conference a year ago, the Washington Lady Blue Lions, in a rivalry game played Saturday, Dec. 22 before a large crowd at Washington High School.
Washington won the game 55-41 to end the first round of conference play at 5-0.
Miami Trace is now 3-2 in the FAC.
Washington won despite Miami Trace making 8 of 17 three-point field goals for 47 percent and going 9 of 10 from the free throw line.
Washington was 24 of 53 shooting for 45 percent. The Lady Lions were 1 of 7 from beyond the three-point line for 14 percent.
Rebounding was a crucial factor in this game and that battle, especially on the offensive glass, went to Washington.
The Lady Lions had 19 offensive rebounds to just one for Miami Trace.
That helped Washington have 15 more shot attempts for the game than Miami Trace.
Washington senior Hannah Haithcock was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points. She stepped out and hit her team’s only three-point basket.
Junior Rayana Burns had 14 points and junior Shawna Conger scored 11.
Senior Bre Taylor added seven for Washington (now 6-2 overall).
Junior Shay McDonald led Miami Trace with 19 points. She hit four three-point field goals.
Senior Becca Ratliff scored eight points, with two three-pointers; sophomore Gracee Stewart scored five points (including one three) and freshman Emma Pitstick added five points (with one three-point basket).
“We’re extremely excited and proud of the girls,” Washington head coach Samantha Leach said. “I felt like the effort was there on both ends of the floor tonight, from the tip-off to the final buzzer.
“One thing we did extremely well was rebounding,” Leach said. “I have Rayana and Hannah each in double figures with rebounds (both with 11) and Shawna with nine. The girls did a really good job of crashing the boards this evening.
“One other thing,” Leach said. “I felt like we executed our out-of-bounds plays really well and we’re able to get easy buckets, lay-ups and open looks and converted on those.”
Miami Trace took an early 5-2 lead with a conventional basket and then a three-point field goal from McDonald sandwiched around a put-back from Burns.
Haithcock then hit the aforementioned three-point field goal and then made 1 of 2 from the line for a 6-5 Washington lead.
The Lady Lions would go on to lead the rest of the game.
At the end of the first quarter, Washington was in front, 12-8.
Washington led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter before taking a 24-14 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Lady Panthers won the third quarter with 13 points to 12 for Washington.
Three-point shots by Ratliff and McDonald cut Washington’s lead to 24-20 with 6:12 to play in the third.
Baskets from Haithcock and Taylor put the lead back at eight points for Washington.
The Lady Panthers twice trailed by five points before the margin was back at nine, 36-27 after three complete.
Miami Trace was able to get as close as eight points to Washington, but the Lady Lions continued to control the game to the point where they posted the final, 55-41 victory.
“They out-played us tonight, plain and simple,” Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley said. “I thought we came out with great energy. I thought our kids were ready to play.
“They are a very good basketball team,” Ackley said of the Lady Lions. “We knew that coming in. They’re one of the best teams around, so, this will be a great learning experience for us and a great measuring stick.
“We get them again in five, five-and-a-half weeks,” Ackley said. “That’ll be another measuring stick to see how we’re doing.
“We had a lot of kids tonight in positions that we’ve never put them in in this kind of game,” Ackley said. “It was the third year for some of their kids in this game. We will be better for tonight. I told the kids, we’re going to work on execution. We’re going to work on our rebounding.
“I will not question their effort and their want-to one bit,” Ackley said. “I was tickled with how hard we played and how they played together. I was really proud of our kids.”
Washington will play games in Florida on Dec. 27, 28 and 29 and will play its next game in Ohio on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019 at Unioto High School.
Miami Trace (5-3 overall) will play in the McDonald’s Holiday Tournament Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Greeneview High School, taking on Greeneview.
Madison Plains will play London in the first game at 6:30 p.m.
Then, on Friday, Dec. 28, the consolation game will tip at 6:30 p.m. with the championship game to follow at 8 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 12 12 12 19 — 55
MT 8 6 13 14 — 41
WASHINGTON — Rayana Burns 7-0-14; Bre Taylor 3-1-7; Kassidy Hines 0-0-0; Tabby Woods 1-0-2; Shawna Conger 4-3-11; Maddy Jenkins 0-0-0; Hannah Haithcock 8 (1)-2-21. TOTALS— 23 (1)-6-55. Free throw shooting: 6 of 11 for 55 percent. Three-point field goal: Haithcock. Field goal shooting: 24 of 53 for 45 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 1 of 7 for 14 percent. Offensive rebounds: 19. Turnovers: 15.
MIAMI TRACE — Olivia Wolffe 0-2-2; Cassidy Lovett 0-0-0; Becca Ratliff 0 (2)-2-8; Aubrey McCoy 0-0-0; Shay McDonald 2 (4)-3-19; Tori Evans 1-0-2; Magarah Bloom 0-0-0; Gracee Stewart 1 (1)-0-5; Lena Steele 0-0-0; Delaney Eakins 0-0-0; Libby Aleshire 0-0-0; Emma Pitstick 0 (1)-2-5. TOTALS — 4 (8)-9-41. Free throw shooting: 9 of 10 for 90 percent. Three-point field goals: McDonald, 4; Ratliff, 2; Stewart, Pitstick. Field goal shooting: 12 of 38 for 32 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 8 of 17 for 47 percent. Rebounds: 18 (1 offensive). Turnovers: 15. Assists: 6. Steals: 8.
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Lady Lion j-v girls beat Miami Trace
The Washington girls junior-varsity team rallied to force overtime in the game against Miami Trace.
The contest needed a second overtime period before Washington came away with a 38-33 victory.
Miami Trace led 18-9 going into the fourth quarter. There Washington scored 15 points to six for Miami Trace, tying the game at 24-24.
Both teams scored six points in the first overtime to set the score at 30-30.
Washington won the second overtime with eight points to three for Miami Trace.
Jeleeya Tyree-Smith was the game’s leading scorer for Washington with 20 points.
Aaralyne Estep scored eight for Washington and Corynn Chrisman and Abby Tackage each chipped in four points.
Emma Pitstick led Miami Trace with 16 points.
Magarah Bloom scored in double figures with 10 points for the Lady Panthers.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 3 6 0 15 6 8 — 38
MT 4 8 6 6 6 3 — 33
WASHINGTON — Aaralyne Estep 3-2-8; Mia Moats 0-0-0; Jeleeya Tyree-Smith 4 (1)-9-20; Arianna Heath 0-0-0; Corynn Chrisman 1-2-4; Abby Tackage 1-2-4; Haven McGraw 1-0-2. TOTALS — 10 (1)-15-38. Free throw shooting: 15 of 25 for 60 percent. Three-point field goal; Tyree-Smith. Field goal shooting: 11 of 37 for 30 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 1 of 6 for 17 percent. Turnovers: 21. Offensive rebounds: 17.
MIAMI TRACE — Reagan Barton 0-0-0; Emma Pitstick 5-6-16; Sidney Payton 1-0-2; Magarah Bloom 3-4-10; Libby Aleshire 1-0-2; Mallory Pavey 1-0-2; Aubrey Wood 0-1-1; Sam Sever 0-0-0. TOTALS — 11-11-33. Free throw shooting: 11 of 14 for 79 percent. Three-point field goals: none. Field goal shooting: 11 of 40 for 28 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 0 of 2. Rebounds: 31 (10 offensive). Turnovers: 18. Assists: 3. Steals: 9.
