Lady Tigers roll past Washington

The McClain Lady Tigers got back to their winning ways after two tough losses to Minford and Lynchburg with a convincing 60-30 victory over visiting Washington Wednesday night.

McClain jumped out to an early 14-6 first-period advantage and never really were threatened the entire game, leading from start to finish.

It was also a game that first-year head coach Shania Massie was able to play everyone a lot, especially in the second half, giving lots of valuable varsity minutes to several of her younger players.

“We were able to play everyone tonight, and it was nice to see Paisley (Pryor) shoot the ball well scoring 19 points,” Massie said. “Anna Eikenberry also played well with 15 points, so I was very impressed with Anna, and she’s done everything that I’ve asked of her this year.”

Pryor led McClain with seven points in the opening quarter, and senior point guard Kaitlyn Jett chipped in with five that included a long three.

In the second period, the Lady Tigers turned good defensive pressure into points when they forced numerous turnovers that resulted into easy layups. McClain also started switching up their defensive looks, which seemed to cause the Lady Blue Lions some confusion.

“I think by switching from man-to-man defense to zone made it difficult for them to match up to what we were doing,” Massie said.

McClain scored 13 points and gave up just six in the second frame and took a double-digit 27-12 lead into the half. Pryor and senior Lily Barnes scored four points each in the period, and Luca Matesic had a three for the Lady Tigers.

In the second half, McClain outscored Washington 33-18 and got a huge offensive spark from Anna Eikenberry, who scored 13 of her 15 points for the game in those last two quarters.

“I think we came out ready to play tonight,” Massie said. “We knew Washington like Chillicothe could be a dangerous team, so one of our biggest focal points in this game was to play some gap defenses and change things up some.

“This was a big win for us. After losing to Minford and Lynchburg we were in kind of a funk, so coming out on top tonight was important, and now we have to move on from this win.”

The Lady Tigers had eight players score in the contest, led by Pryor’s game-high 19 points and Eikenberry’s 15.  Rounding out the scoring for McClain were Luca Matesic 6, Lily Barnes 6, Kaitlyn Jett 5, Lillie Saunders 5, Brenna Wright 2 and Larah Henson 2.

The Lady Tigers converted 9-of-16 free-throws for 56 percent, but Pryor was almost perfect from the foul line in the game, making 7-of-8.

Washington was led in scoring by Trinity George and Calee Ellars, who both had eight points in the game. The Lady Blue Lions made 6-of-10 free throws for 60 percent.

McClain improves to 10-8 on the season and (6-3) in the FAC and will play next at Peebles H.S. on Saturday, Jan. 27 with a noon start time for the JV contest.