CHILLICOTHE — The Washington Lady Lions played their first game of the new year and their first after their trip to Florida when they bused down US 35 to Chillicothe to take on the Unioto Lady Shermans Saturday, Jan. 5.
Washington withstood a late scoring surge from Unioto to post a 51-45 victory.
The Lady Lions, now 8-4 overall, saw only four players score, but they each scored in double figures.
Junior Rayana Burns led Washington with 16 points.
Senior Hannah Haithcock scored 14, junior Shawna Conger scored 11 and senior Bre Taylor had 10 points.
Jacie Fisher was the game’s leading scorer for Unioto with 25 points.
Emily Coleman was next in scoring for the Shermans with five points.
Washington held a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
At halftime, the Lady Lions led 26-17.
The third was another good quarter for Washington, outscoring Unioto by five points to extend their lead to 37-23.
The Shermans poured in 22 points in the fourth quarter, but Washington countered with 14 to set the final result at 51-45.
“We were very excited to come home with this victory,” Washington head coach Samantha Leach said. “Unioto (8-2) is an extremely tough and talented team. Their kids play hard every possession. Their post player, Fisher, had a great offensive game and really hurt us inside.
“I was impressed with the intensity our kids had from the tip-off,” Leach said. “We showed we were able to regroup from our loss against Medina and did a much better job defending the three-point line. We kept the momentum for most of the game and continued to get the defensive stops we needed especially in the first three quarters.
“Rayana did a great job attacking the rim and and finished with 16 points.
“Moving on from today we will continue to work on rebounding,” Leach said. “We gave them too many second chance opportunities. We also need better execution to close out the game. Overall, it was a great team win against a very good Unioto team.”
Washington will be back in action Wednesday night at home, taking on Logan Elm with the j-v game at 5:30 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 13 13 11 14 — 51
U 8 9 6 22 — 45
WASHINGTON — Rayana Burns 6-4-16; Bre Taylor 2 (2)-0-10; Kassidy Hines 0-0-0; Tabby Woods 0-0-0; Halli Wall 0-0-0; Shawna Conger 4-3-11; Maddy Jenkins 0-0-0; Hannah Haithcock 7-0-14. TOTALS — 21 (2)-7-51. Free throw shooting: 7 of 10 for 70 percent. Three-point field goals: Taylor, 2.
UNIOTO — Hallie Pinkerton 0 (1)-2-5; Amanda McGlone 0-0-0; Amber Cottrill 2-0-4; Jacie Fisher 11-3-25; Cree Stulley 1-2-4; Alexis Miller 0 (1)-0-3; Rilee Davis 2-0-4. TOTALS — 16 (2)-8-45. Free throw shooting: 8 of 13 for 62 percent. Three-point field goals: Pinkerton, Miller.
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Washington j-v team halts Unioto’s 52-game win streak
Saturday, in the junior-varsity game between Washington and Unioto, the Lady Lions overcame an 11-2 deficit to post a 29-28 victory, snapping Unioto’s 52-game winning streak.
Haven McGraw and Aaralyne Estep led Washington, each with 10 points.
Jeleeya Tyree-Smith scored five and Corynn Chrisman and Abby Tackage both scored two points.
Erin Callahan and Avery Miller each scored 11 points for Unioto.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 2 10 6 9 — 29
U 11 2 6 9 — 28
WASHINGTON — Aaralyne Estep 4-2-10; Mia Moats 0-0-0; Maycee Whitt 0-0-0; Arianna Heath 0-0-0; Corynn Chrisman 1-0-2; Abby Tackage 1-0-2; Haven McGraw 5-0-10; Jeleeya Tyree-Smith 2-1-5. TOTALS — 13-3-29. Free throw shooting: 3 of 6 for 50 percent. Three-point field goals: none.
UNIOTO — Kylie Paul 0-0-0; Paris Deboard 2-0-4; Geneva Williams 1-0-2; Karlee Renner 0-0-0; Taylor Dearth 0-0-0; Amber Hice 0-0-0; Erin Callahan 4 (1)-0-11; Avery Miller 2 (1)-4-11. TOTALS — 9 (2)-4-28. Free throw shooting: 4 of 7 for 57 percent. Three-point field goals: Callahan, Miller.
