The Washington Blue Lions hosted the Jackson Ironmen for a Frontier Athletic Conference game Tuesday evening.
Washington began the game on a 12-2 run and never trailed as they prevailed, 65-51.
The Blue Lions had three players in double figures, led by senior Reico Colter, tops in the game, with 22 points.
Junior Tanner Lemaster scored 14 points and junior Raleigh Haithcock scored 11 points.
Sophomores John Wall and Isaiah Haithcock both scored eight points and junior Troy Thompson added two points.
Raleigh Haithcock connected for three three-point field goals; Wall and Lemaster each had two and Colter scored one.
For the Ironmen, junior Jacob Winters led with 12 points.
Senior Logan Miller scored 11 and sophomore Boston Campbell scored 10.
Jackson falls to 4-5 in the FAC, 8-9 overall.
Washington improves to 4-5 in the conference, 11-6 overall.
“Our effort was just great tonight, defensively,” Washington head coach Shannon Bartruff said. “The guys were mentally focused tonight. (Jackson’s) a good basketball team. I know they’re only .500, but they’ve beaten some good teams. They play extremely hard. They got a senior back — Logan Miller. We basically shut him out until the fourth quarter. Isaiah Haithcock did a great job. Zay is one of the best defenders in our league. When he’s locked in, when he’s focused, he just shuts guys down.
“Reico (Colter) was great tonight,” Bartruff said. “He affected the game in a lot of different ways. Defensively, he causes a lot of teams problems. He did a good job of pushing the transition, making the right plays.
“Raleigh (Haithcock) knocked some shots down for us,” Bartruff said. “Tanner was Tanner. Lately he’s been living in the paint, which opens things up for us. He’s been rebounding the ball really, really well.”
Lemaster had a double-double Tuesday with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Washington led 20-10 at the end of the first quarter and 43-24 at the half.
The Blue Lions increased their lead to as many as 26 points (52-26) at the 4:53 mark of the third quarter.
After a three-point shot from Lemaster, the Blue Lions held a 27-point lead, 58-31.
The Ironmen scored the final five points of the third quarter to set the margin at 58-36 with eight minutes remaining.
Jackson pulled to within 13 points at one stage of the fourth quarter, but could draw no closer, ending the game with a 65-51.
In other games featuring FAC teams, Waynesville beat Miami Trace, 59-49, Logan Elm topped Chillicothe, 57-34 and the McClain Tigers beat Vinton County, 73-57.
In the junior-varsity game Tuesday, Washington defeated Jackson, 53-33.
Coleden May led Washington with 12 points. He hit one three-point field goal.
Garrett Rickman scored 11 points, hitting one three-point field goal.
Nydrell Wright hit one three and scored a total of nine points.
Rocky Jones scored six points, Will Miller had five points (with one three), Nathan Upthegrove scored four points and Gabe Tayese and Jacob Lindsey both scored three points.
Noah Ernst led the Ironmen with 10 points.
Washington is scheduled to host Miami Trace for five games Saturday.
The freshman boys game is scheduled for 2 p.m., followed by the j-v boys game at 3:30 p.m.; the j-v girls game (two quarters in length) is set for 5 p.m., to be followed by the varsity girls game at 6 p.m. and the varsity boys game at 7:30 p.m.
The game times for all the games, except the freshman boys game, are approximate.
Washington Middle School is also scheduled to host Frontier Athletic Conference tournament games Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 20 23 15 7 — 65
J 10 14 12 15 — 51
WASHINGTON — Reico Colter 7 (1)-5-12; John Wall 1 (2)-0-8; Raleigh Haithcock 1 (3)-0-11; Garrett Rickman 0-0-0; Troy Thompson 1-0-2; Micah Brown 0-0-0; Coleden May 0-0-0; Tanner Lemaster 4 (2)-0-14; Isaiah Haithcock 4-0-8. TOTALS — 18 (8)-5-65. Free throw shooting: 5 of 13 for 38 percent. Three-point field goals: R. Haithcock, 3; Lemaster, 2; Wall, 2; Colter. Field goal shooting: 26 of 47 for 55 percent. Turnovers: 12.
JACKSON — Jacob Winters 6-0-12; Boston Campbell 4-2-10; Nate Woodard 0-0-0; Braydon Stapleton 0-0-0; Logan Miller 4 (1)-0-11; Holden Blankenship 2 (1)-1-8; Evan Jarvis 0 (2)-1-7; Tristan Prater 0 (1)-0-3; Trent Evans 0-0-0; Coen Davis 0-0-0; Zander Ervin 0-0-0. TOTALS — 16 (5)-4-51. Free throw shooting: 4 of 6 for 67 percent. Three-point field goals: Jarvis, 2; Miller, Blankenship, Prater. Field goal shooting: 21 of 45 for 46 percent. Turnovers: 16.
