Lady Lion sophomore Eliana Racine (11) scores during the third quarter of the game against Chillicothe on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. Racine led Washington with 10 points in the 34-33 loss to the Lady Cavaliers. Also pictured for Washington is Calee Ellars (23). Pictured for Chillicothe is Kendra Allen (23).
Tyler Flora | Record-Herald
The Washington Lady Lions (7-7, 3-3 FAC) and Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers (1-11, 1-5 FAC) met on Saturday with both teams looking to avenge a recent Frontier Athletic Conference loss.
On Thursday, the Lady Lions fell to Hillsboro by a score of 74-46 and the Lady Cavs lost to Miami Trace, 49-43.
Chillicothe led 2-0 after a layup from Avery Cox, and later held a 13-12 lead going into the second quarter. The Lady Cavs did not gain the lead again until the 5:35 mark of the final quarter, and they would hold on to that advantage to get out of Fayette County with a 34-33 win.
Each period ended with one team hanging on to a one-point lead, as the Lady Lions led 21-20 at the half and 29-28 after three quarters.
A layup from Washington’s Maggi Wall had them ahead 31-28 early in the final quarter.
Chillicothe would proceed to score six unanswered points over the next several minutes before Lady Lion Trinity George sank a floater to make it 34-33 with just 43.2 seconds left in the game.
Lady Lion head coach John Denen called a timeout to set up his defense and it worked as the defense was able to force a Lady Cavs turnover.
After missing a shot, Washington got the offensive rebound but later turned it over. Chillicothe called a timeout with 14.2 seconds remaining and possession of the basketball.
Down one point with less than 15 seconds left in a game usually calls for the losing team to attempt a steal and then quickly foul if the steal attempt is unsuccessful.
Unfortunately for the Lady Lions, they had zero team fouls for the quarter and five fouls to give until the bonus.
With 1.2 seconds left in the contest, Washington had committed their fourth team foul of the quarter.
The Lady Lions were able to steal the ensuing inbound pass, but were too far away from their basket and not in a position to attempt a game-winning shot before the buzzer expired.
Washington (7-8, 3-4 FAC) plays again Wednesday, Jan. 17 at home against the FAC-leading Jackson Ironladies (10-2, 6-0 FAC).
Chillicothe 2-11, 2-5 FAC) is back in action on Wednesday at McClain (6-6, 3-3 FAC).
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 12 9 8 4 — 33
C 13 7 8 6 — 34
WASHINGTON — Kaithlyn Maquiling 0-0-0; Maggi Wall 1 (2)-0-8; Aysha Haney 1-0-2; Calleigh Wead-Salmi 1-0-2; Eliana Racine 4-2-10; Trinity George 3-0-6; Calee Ellars 0 (1)-0-3; Lilly Shaw 1-0-2. TOTALS — 11 (3)-2-33. Free throw shooting: 2 of 2 for 100 percent. Three-point field goals: Wall 2, Ellars. Field goal shooting: 14 of 40 for 35 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 3 of 12 for 25 percent. Turnovers: 17. Rebounds: 25 (6 offensive).
CHILLICOTHE — Miranda McCloy 0-0-0; Avery Cox 4-1-9; Adaline Mendel 0 (4)-0-12; Savannah Knapp 0-1-1; Mallorie McCloy 1-0-2; Kiera Archer 4-0-8; Kendra Allen 1-0-2. TOTALS — 10 (4)-2-34. Free throw shooting: 2 of 7 for 9 percent. Three-point field goals: Mendel 4. Field goal shooting: 14 of 38 for 37 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 4 of 12 for 33 percent. Turnovers: 13. Rebounds: 19 (6 offensive).
Lady Lion j-v defeats Lady Cavs
In the j-v contest, Washington defeated Chillicothe by a score of 37-23.
Statistically for the Lady Lions, Jada Ryan led the team with 10 points, followed by Eliana Racine with eight, Aysha Haney with seven, Khalia Smith with four, Calee Ellars and Iyanna Brown with three, and Destany Snyder with two.
