Washington junior Gabe Tayese puts up a shot during the first half of their game against Jackson on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. Tayese scored four points and had three rebounds, an assist, and a steal in his first career varsity start as a member of the Blue Lion basketball team. Washington would go on to fall to the Ironmen by a score of 64-52. Pictured on defense for Jackson is Charlie Woodard.
Photo by Mary Kay West
The Washington Blue Lions continued league play on Friday as they hosted Jackson in a Frontier Athletic Conference basketball contest.
Jackson jumped out to an early lead on Washington, leading 16-11 after the first quarter. The Ironmen hit four three-pointers in the opening period.
Jackson proceeded to hit four more threes in the second quarter on their way to a 34-22 halftime lead. The Blue Lions trailed by as many as 16 points in the second period.
While the Ironmen couldn’t seem to miss in the first half, Washington struggled to find a rhythm and shot 8-24 (33%) from the field through two quarters.
Jackson opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 18 points, which would end up being their largest lead for the evening.
Washington responded with an 8-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 10 points. The Blue Lions trailed 44-36 heading into the final quarter.
The Blue Lions never got closer than an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter, as the Ironmen outscored them 20-16 to take home a 64-52 victory.
Washington head coach Shannon Bartruff spoke following the loss.
“They came out and really shot the ball well in the first half. I felt like overall, they just played harder, and they wanted it more than we did. It’s gonna be a soul-searching week. It really didn’t have anything to do with getting beat but more to do with how I felt like a couple guys just quit out there on the floor. We were down a couple starters tonight but honestly; I was excited for those other kids that had an opportunity to go in there and play. It had less to do with that and more to do with how we’re handling adversity right now.”
He continued, “I feel like we’re being really selfish. It appears that we’re more concerned about our statistics than us winning games. We just did not give the effort that we needed to against a tough, physical team that shot the ball unbelievably well. This is going to probably define the rest of our season, how we respond to this.”
He finished, “Jackson’s locker room after the game, you would’ve thought they just won the state title, and we’re getting that from everybody. We’re gonna get everybody’s best shot coming down the stretch. I feel like we’ve done a good job of explaining that to our guys. We just didn’t play well enough, and that’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job of getting these guys prepared and getting more effort out of them. I felt like our effort wasn’t consistent enough for four quarters from all five guys that were on the floor.”
Unofficially for Washington, the trio of Garrett Rickman, Michael Bearden, and Brayden May led the Blue Lions with 11 points each, followed by Tanner Lemaster with nine, John Wall with six, and Gabe Tayese with four.
The Blue Lions were 11-19 (58%) from the free throw line as a team and committed 12 turnovers.
Statistically for Jackson, Charlie Woodard led the Ironmen with 18 points, followed by Boston Campbell with 15, Evan Jarvis with 13, Zander Ervin with eight, Bodhi Wolford with seven, and Ryan Seimetz with three.
The Ironmen were 4-11 (36%) from the free throw line as a team and committed 16 turnovers.
Washington (12-4, 6-1 in FAC) plays again on Friday, Jan. 20 at home against McClain (2-11, 0-7 in FAC) with a 7:30 p.m. varsity tip. Washington defeated McClain 46-45 earlier this season in overtime.
Jackson (6-6, 5-2 in FAC) plays again on Tuesday, Jan. 17 at Alexander.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 11 11 14 16 — 52
J 16 18 10 20 — 64
WASHINGTON — Garrett Rickman 1 (3)-0-11; John Wall 0-6-6; Michael Bearden 2 (1)-4-11; Brayden May 1 (3)-0-11; Will Miller 0-0-0; Gabe Tayese 2-0-4; Tanner Lemaster 4-1-9; TOTALS — 10 (7)-11-52. Free throw shooting: 11 of 19 for 58 percent. Field goal percentage: 17 of 54 for 31 percent. Three-point field goals: May 3, Rickman 3, Bearden. Three-point field goal percentage: 7 of 19 for 37 percent. Rebounds: 20 (5 offensive). Blocks: 2 Steals: 14 Assists: 7 Turnovers: 12
JACKSON — Ryan Seimetz (1)-0-3; Bodhi Wolford 2 (1)-0-; Evan Jarvis 2 (3)-0-13; Boston Campbell 7-1-15; Charlie Woodard 2 (4)-2-18; Coen Davis 0-0-0; Zander Ervin 2 (1)-1-8. TOTALS — 15 (10)-4-64. Free throw shooting: 4 of 11 for 36 percent. Three-point field goals: Woodard 4, Jarvis 3, Ervin, Seimetz, Wolford. Turnovers: 16
In the junior varsity contest, Washington lost 42-36.
Statistically for Washington, Gage Merritt and Jeston Everhart led the Blue Lions with eight points each, followed by Noah Haithcock with seven, Cooper Robertson with six, Jacob Lindsey with five, and Will Miller with two.
In the freshman contest, Washington won 55-25.
Statistically for Washington, Jeston Everhart led the Blue Lions with 20 points, followed by Javin Baker with 10, Bryson Heath with nine, Cooper Robertson with six, Mathew Colflesh and Miguel Utrera with four, and Mason Conger with two.
