It wasn’t the start that Washington (9-2, 4-1 FAC) head boys basketball coach Shannon Bartruff was looking for on Friday as they hosted Chillicothe (5-7, 1-5 FAC). The Blue Lions were only able to muster 20 points in the first half while allowing 24 points defensively. The second half was a different story as they outscored the Cavs 42-30 to pull out the home win.

“I didn’t think that we shot the ball very well in the first half because we were taking poor shots,” said Bartruff. “We were not making them guard us for more than one or two passes, and took a lot of threes in transition. Our defense was okay in the first half but we let number-13 (Cooper Stoneking) get loose. We made some adjustments on him and did a much better job in the second half.”

Chillicothe had all of the momentum coming out of the break, but that quickly changed when play was stopped just moments into the third quarter as Cavalier junior Dom Barron suffered a gruesome ankle injury after attempting a layup. The game resumed after about a 20-minute delay, and the Cavs had to attempt to put their emotions aside and move forward without one of their starters.

When play resumed, Washington went on a 14-0 run to take a 10-point lead that included a free throw from Noah Haithcock, two layups from Isaiah Haithcock, a three and a floater from John Wall, and a layup each from the Haithcock brothers.

The run ended when Chillicothe sophomore Cooper Stoneking drilled his third three of the evening to get the Cavs back within seven, 34-27.

Later in the quarter, Chillicothe had the ball with just a few seconds left down 41-33 and looking to close the gap further. The last-second shot attempt was blocked at the buzzer by Noah Haithcock to keep Washington with an eight-point lead heading into the fourth.

The Cavs quickly got it to a one possession game after Stoneking hit a three and was fouled shooting a three and made the trio. This prompted a timeout by Washington with 6:18 to go in the game.

The Blue Lions went on a 12-0 run out of the timeout to seemingly put the game away. The run consisted of a layup from Garrett Rickman, back-to-back threes from Wall and Isaiah Haithcock, a jumper and a layup from Rickman, and a layup from Gabe Tayese.

Caden Eblin hit a jumper for the Cavs with 2:45 left in the contest to make it 54-41. After a defensive stop for Chillicothe, Will Miller stole a pass and threw the ball upcourt to Rickman who delivered a thunderous dunk that brought the Blue Lion faithful to their feet.

The Cavaliers got within seven points with 1:03 remaining after back-to-back threes from freshman Andrew Hamman, but Washington was able to extend the lead over the final minute to come away with the victory.

“We got stops in the second half of allowed us to get out and run and transition which is good for us,” Bartruff said. “We played much more as a team in the second half. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dom Barron. I stopped over and saw him after the game and he was in good spirits. He’s a tough kid.”

Statistically for the Blue Lions, Isaiah Haithcock was the leading scorer with 20 points and secured his sixth double-double of the season by pulling down 11 rebounds. Haithcock also had three assists and one block.

Garrett Rickman was next in scoring with 19 points and added six rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Gabe Tayese followed with eight points and had two rebounds, one assist and one block.

Will Miller hit two threes and a free throw for seven points, and also had four assists and three steals.

John Wall was next with five points and had a team-high seven assists to go with four rebounds.

Noah Haithcock rounded out the scoring with three points and contributed six rebounds and a block.

Washington (10-2, 5-1 FAC) is back in action next Friday, Jan. 19 at Jackson (10-4, 4-3 FAC). The Ironmen defeated Hillsboro on Friday in double overtime, 58-57.

Chillicothe (5-8, 1-6 FAC) plays again next Friday at McClain (2-11, 0-7). The Tigers fell to Miami Trace on Friday by a score of 48-24.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

W 10 10 21 21 — 62

C 11 13 9 21 — 54

WASHINGTON — Garrett Rickman 7 (1)-2-19; John Wall 1 (1)-0-5; Will Miller 0 (2)-1-7; Noah Haithcock 1-1-3; Gabe Tayese 4-0-8; Roman Chijevsky 0-0-0; Isaiah Haithcock 5 (1)-7-20; Jacob Lindsey 0-0-0. TOTALS — 18 (5)-11-62. Free throw shooting: 11 of 15 for 73 percent. Three-point field goals: Miller 2, Rickman, Wall, I. Haithcock. Field goal shooting: 23 of 52 for 44 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 5 of 21 for 24 percent. Rebounds: 31 (6 offensive). Assists: 16. Steals: 7. Blocked shots: 3. Turnovers: 10.

CHILLICOTHE — Juan Miller 1-0-2; Caden Eblin 2-0-4; Jackson McNeal 1-0-2; Dom Barron 1-0-2; Cooper Stoneking 4 (5)-4-27; Andrew Hamman 0 (2)-0-6; Cam Badger 1 (1)-0-5; Caden Cox 1 (1)-1-6; TOTALS — 11 (9)-5-54. Free throw shooting: 5 of 6 for 83 percent. Three-point field goals: Stoneking 5, Hamman 2, Badger, Cox. Turnovers: 10.

Blue Lion j-v wins against Cavs

In the j-v contest, Washington prevailed by a score of 47-40.

Statistically for the Blue Lions, Cooper Robertson led with 13 points, including hitting a long three at the buzzer before halftime. He was followed by Javin Baker with 12, Jeston Everhart with eight, Bryson Heath and Aden Osborne with six, and Jordan Lamb with two.