On a cold night in Fayette County, one week before Christmas, the Wilmington Lady Hurricane visited Washington High School for a game against the Lady Lions.
It was a match-up of former South Central Ohio League rivals.
The Lady Lions won this game, 51-46.
Senior Shawna Conger was the game’s leading scorer for Washington with 21 points. She connected for one three-point goal. Conger was also 10 of 10 from the free throw line and had five rebounds.
Senior Halli Wall hit three treys on her way to scoring 11 points. Wall led Washington with seven rebounds.
Sophomore Jeleeya Tyree-Smith scored 10 points, including hitting two threes.
For the Hurricane, senior Jasmine Jamiel led with 12 points. She hit both of Wilmington’s three-point field goals.
Senior Sami McCord scored 10 points and freshman Sophie Huffman had eight points.
The advantage went to Washington from behind the three-point line, where the Lady Lions made six shots to two for Wilmington.
And at the foul line, where Washington went 13 of 19 to Wilmington’s 6 of 11.
“Washington Court House just came out and out-hustled us,” Wilmington head coach Zach Williams said. “They stuck to the game plan very well. Their players made the shots they needed to make.
“Our girls didn’t respond well tonight,” Williams said. “Court House came out and beat us. They out-hustled us to the ball, they got the offensive rebounds when we didn’t box out. We didn’t close out with urgency. Everything we’ve been doing in the past three or four games, we didn’t do tonight. We didn’t execute with efficiency.”
“This was a big win for us,” Washington head coach Samantha Leach said. “We knew Wilmington was tough. They have a lot of players who can handle the ball really well. Number four (Jamiel) is a really talented guard.
“We just wanted to focus on defense this evening,” Leach said. “We knew the ball was going to go to number four a lot, so we knew we had to be in help. I feel like this was a total team effort. The girls did an outstanding job of getting stops when we needed to.”
The Hurricane hit their first two shots of the game for a 4-0 lead.
Wilmington led 6-2 before Aaralyne Estep hit a two-point bucket and Conger drained a three to give Washington a 7-6 lead.
The lead changed hands three more times in the first quarter before the buzzer sounded with Wilmington in front, 12-11.
The second quarter was arguably the turning point in the game, as Washington outscored Wilmington, 14-6.
The game was tied at 14, 16 and 18. Washington closed the half with a 9-0 run to take a 25-18 lead into the locker room.
Washington continued that run to start the second half, building a 29-20 lead with 5:28 to play in the third quarter.
Washington led by as many as 11 points before Wilmington scored at the buzzer to set the margin at 37-28, Lady Lions.
With just over four minutes to play in the game, Washington held its biggest lead of the night, 44-32.
Wilmington went on a 7-0 run to pull to within five at 44-39.
Estep had a key steal after a Washington miss. She was fouled and hit one of two from the line.
The Lady Lions hit two baskets in the fourth quarter. The majority of their points came at the line, as the home team went 9 of 11 at the charity stripe in the final frame.
It was a seven-point game with 43 seconds to play.
Wilmington scored six late points but time ran out with Washington taking the 51-46 victory.
Washington (5-2 overall) is at Miami Trace Saturday. The girls varsity game is slated to start at 6 p.m.
Estep had five rebounds, Kendall Dye had four and Tyree-Smith with three.
Wilmington had five offensive rebounds.
Wilmington (5-4 overall) is off until Dec. 28 when they play at Beavercreek.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 11 14 12 14 — 51
Wil 12 6 10 18 — 46
WASHINGTON — Allie Mongold 0-0-0; Aaralyne Estep 2-1-5; Kendall Dye 2-0-4; Jeleeya Tyree-Smith 1 (2)-2-10; Abby Tackage 0-0-0; Natalie Woods 0-0-0; Halli Wall 1 (3)-0-11; Shawna Conger 4 (1)-10-21; Megan Sever 0-0-0. TOTALS — 10 (6)-13-51. Free throw shooting: 13 of 19 for 68 percent. Three-point field goals: Wall, 3; Tyree-Smith, 2; Conger. Field goal shooting: 16 of 42 for 38 percent. Rebounds: 27 (13 offensive). Steals: 10. Assists: 7. Turnovers: 9
WILMINGTON — Jasmine Jamiel 3 (2)-0-12; KeAsia Robinson 2-0-4; Sami McCord 2-6-10; Caroline Diels 0-0-0; Zoey Moore 0-0-0; Sophie Huffman 4-0-8; Katie Murphy 3-0-6; Karlie Morgan 3-0-6. TOTALS — 17 (2)-6-46. Free throw shooting: 6 of 11 for 55 percent. Three-point field goals: Jamiel, 2. Field goal shooting: 19 of 42 for 45 percent. Turnovers: 10.
