Lady Indians unable to defend home court against Washington
The Hillsboro Lady Indians stumbled a bit on Wednesday night in South Central Ohio League play, due to the fact they were unable to defend their home court.
Their 53-50 loss to the visiting Washington Lady Blue Lions wasn't the best game the Lady Indians played thus far this season, as head coach JR Moberly said his team lacked focus in the SCOL loss.
"We didn't have enough focus," Moberly said. "They (Washington) got the shots they wanted, and they made them. They have a nice guard and nice players.
"Again, our energy and focus wasn't there before the game, and that unfortunately happens sometimes. The kids tried to fight through it and gave themselves a shot to win."
The Lady Indians (3-2, 4-2) put up a fight in the fourth and even had a opportunity to tie the game with time expiring in the fourth. With control of the ball in the final seconds, the Lady Indians were forced into a turnover at the buzzer, unable to take a shot at a 3-pointer.
HHS was led in scoring by post player Alyssa Sullivan with 15 points. Sullivan was also 3-of-4 from the free-throw line, with the senior scoring 11 points in the second quarter.
Madison Snyder followed with 13 points, finishing 5-of-7 from the free-throw line.
Now for that fourth quarter where the Lady Indians almost made a complete comeback.
Washington (2-3, 3-5) scored the first six points of the fourth with two 3-pointers, one by Jaycie McRoberts and the other by Kaylee Noel, which put WSHS ahead 45-38. WSHS finished with eight 3-pointers in the game.
Kaylynn Bell of HHS answered with four straight points, including forcing her way to the basket for the layup with 2:49 left in regulation. Bell collected eight points in the SCOL loss.
Sullivan followed with two made free throws to make it a one-point deficit for the Lady Indians, but the Lady Blue Lions wouldn't give up the lead. They increased their advantage with a three-point play from Carleigh Chaffins for a 48-44 score with 1:59 on the clock. Chaffins led all scorers with 17 points.
With the game then being decided on the free-throw line, the Lady Indians had what they needed to happen with Washington missing the free throws given to them on three straight occasions, going a combined 0-for-6.
Then Washington was able to eventually make one with 9.8 on the clock for a 51-48 lead. Snyder answered with two free throws to make it a one-point game at 51-50.
The scoreboard read 7.4 when McRoberts, who totaled 15 points, made two free throws to increase the WSHS lead to three points. HHS, following a WSHS time out, took the ball down the court but were unable to set up an open three-point shot, instead turning over the ball at the buzzer.
Also in double figures for the Lady Blue Lions was Emma Anderson with 12 points.
As for the rest of the game, Washington led 12-8 after the first frame, and by the time halftime rolled around, the Lady Indians cut the WSHS lead to one point at 24-23.
Both teams scored 15 points in the third quarter, keeping it a one-point WSHS lead at 39-38 before the start of the fourth frame.
WSHS finished 15-of-29 from the free-throw line, while HHS was 12-of-18. Unofficially, each team had 10 turnovers.