The Washington Lady Lions hosted the Circleville Lady Tigers for a non-conference game Monday, Jan. 10.
Circleville came away with a 50-36 victory.
Washington senior Aaralyne Estep was the game’s leading scorer with 16 points. She hit two three-point field goals.
Junior Allie Mongold and sophomore Alizae Ryan both scored seven points. Mongold hit one three-point field goal.
Sophomore Trinity George scored five points and sophomore Calleigh Wead-Salmi scored one.
Circleville had three players reach double figures, as Faith Yancey and Gabby McConnell each scored 15 points and Logan Jones had 10 points for the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Tigers began the game with an 11-1 run.
At the end of the first quarter, Circleville was in front, 11-4.
Circleville led by as many as 11 points in the second quarter and held a 22-13 halftime lead.
It was a nice start to the third quarter for Washington, as Mongold and Estep hit back-to-back three-point shots to make it a three-point game, 22-19.
Circleville soon re-established a lead of eight points, 30-22.
The Lady Lions got to within six points before Circleville ended the quarter in front, 37-26.
In the fourth quarter, Circleville led by as few as 10 and as many as 17 points before time expired with the visitors taking the 50-36 victory.
“I was excited to see us score more in the second half,” Washington head coach Samantha Bihl said. “We scored 13 points in the third quarter and I’m happy with that. I wish we could do that every quarter.
“We have moments where we look really good, but it’s just all about being consistent,” Bihl said. “Great teams and good teams are consistent through all four quarters. I think that’s what we’re struggling with right now.
“We were able to knock down a couple of threes and get ourselves right back in the game when the third quarter started,” Bihl said. “But we failed to respond to their run right after that. We had a lot of girls in foul trouble and I think that hurt us, too.”
Circleville was 19 of 31 from the free throw line for 61 percent. Washington made 5 of 10 from the line for 50 percent. That 14-point differential was equal to the final margin of victory for the Lady Tigers.
“We kind of play in spurts,” Circleville head coach Steve Kalinoski said. “At times we look pretty good and there are other times we act like we’re not sure what we’re doing out there. That’s kind of typical of how we’ve played this year.
“We’ve got some younger kids out there,” Kalinoski said. “A couple of sophomores and several freshmen getting some varsity playing time. It’s a learning experience for them. This was game 15 for us. We’re just striving to get better each and every day.
“The Court House kids are always going to play hard and never give up,” Kalinoski said. “This was our fourth game in six days, so, we were a little tired. Our legs were a little dead at times tonight, but, we gutted it out.”
Circleville improves to 7-8 overall. They will host Fairfield Union Friday.
Washington (3-11 overall) is scheduled to play at McClain Wednesday.
There was no j-v game Monday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 4 9 13 10 — 36
C 11 11 15 13 — 50
WASHINGTON — Maggie Wall 0-0-0; Aaralyne Estep 5 (2)-0-16; Allie Mongold 2 (1)-0-7; Trinity George 2-1-5; Calleigh Wead-Salmi 0-1-1; Aysha Haney 0-0-0; Megan Sever 0-0-0; Natalie Woods 0-0-0; Alizae Ryan 2-3-7; Addi Shiltz 0-0-0. TOTALS — 11 (3)-5-36. Free throw shooting: 5 of 10 for 50 percent. Three-point field goals: Estep, 2; Mongold. Field goal shooting: 14 of 52 for 30 percent. Turnovers: 18.
CIRCLEVILLE — Faith Yancey 4 (1)-4-15; Logan Jones 5-0-10; Maddux Bigam 0-0-0; Veronica Naio 0-0-0; Taegan Retherford 0-0-0; Jordan Rhymer 0-0-0; Lily Winter 0-7-7; Ayla Carmichael 0-0-0; Gabby McConnell 4-7-15; Sara Gearhart 1-1-3; Addisyn Ndayitwayeko 0-0-0. TOTALS — 14 (1)-19-50. Free throw shooting: 19 of 31 for 61 percent. Three-point field goal: Yancey. Field goal shooting: 15 of 39 for 38 percent. Turnovers: 20.
