Frontier Athletic Conference play began for girls basketball on Wednesday with one of the three games consisting of the Washington Lady Lions hosting the Hillsboro Lady Indians, who led at halftime but suffered a tough 53-50 loss.

Hillsboro jumped out to a 9-0 lead over Washington early in the opening quarter. The Lady Lions got into the scoring column with a three-pointer from sophomore Eliana Racine, making it 9-3.

Lady Indian freshman Tylee Davis stole a pass and took it in for a layup and the foul. The free throw was good, making it 12-3. Washington’s Lily Shaw then made a layup to make it 12-5. Another three-point play from Hillsboro, this one from junior Blake Herdman, made it 15-5.

Racine made a layup to make it 15-7 before Herdman knocked down a three to extend the lead to 18-7 lead with just seconds remaining in the period.

Hillsboro committed its fifth team foul right at the buzzer, sending Racine to the line for two shots. She sunk them both to make it 18-9 Hillsboro after one quarter.

Washington began the second quarter on a 12-4 run to get within a point, thanks in part to a couple of threes from junior Maggi Wall. After a free throw from Hillsboro made it 23-21, another three from Wall gave Washington its first lead of the game, 24-23.

Two Hillsboro free throws gave the Lady Indians a brief lead before Trinity George of Washington knocked down two free throws of her own to give the Lady Lions the lead back.

Washington held onto a 26-25 lead with under 90 seconds left in the half before back-to-back buckets and a free throw from Hillsboro sophomore Kyra Boyd gave them a 30-26 lead.

Lady Lion senior Calleigh Wead-Salmi knocked down a free throw just before halftime to make it 30-27 at the break.

Washington regained the lead, 31-30, on a basket by Wall early in the third quarter. Another jumper from Wall made it 33-30, and a three from Racine made it 36-30.

Hillsboro responded with a layup to make it 36-32, but a three from Wall would make it 39-34. Washington had the final possession of the third quarter, which ended with a turnaround jumper at the buzzer from Washington’s Wead-Salmi to make it 41-34 going into the final period.

A layup from Herdman and a couple free throws quickly had the Lady Indians back within a possession, 41-38. Two free throws from Lady Lion sophomore Peyton Hughes got it back to a two possession game, 43-38.

The next four points of the game came from Wead-Salmi, including a layup and a pair of free throws to give the Lady Lions a 47-38 lead with less than four minutes to go in the contest.

A three from Davis and a layup from Peighton Bledsoe got Hillsboro back within four with 2:26 to go.

Wead-Salmi scored on the next possession and Hillsboro answered to keep the lead at four points.

Washington called a time out with possession of the ball and 1:05 to go, looking to hold on for a victory.

Hillsboro committed its fifth team foul of the quarter with 57.7 left in the game, sending Racine to the line. She knocked down both attempts to make it 51-45.

Addyson Miles made a layup for the Lady Indians with 33.1 remaining to make it 51-47, prompting a Hillsboro time out.

Hillsboro stole the ball from Washington and had multiple attempts from three that all were unsuccessful. With 5.7 seconds left in the contest, Wall grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled, sending her to the line for a pair of free throws. Wall made both, making the score 53-47.

Kobie Miles knocked down a three for Hillsboro with 1.7 seconds remaining to make it 53-50 and the Lady Indians called another time out.

Washington was able to inbound the ball and run out the rest of the clock.

“This was a tremendous effort. We are kind of slow starters. We have played three teams so far that have 13 returning starters between the three, and we came out of that 2-1,” said Washington coach John Denen. “We have got a lot of work to do but this is one I’ll never forget. I thought we did a better job rebounding the last 12 minutes of the game. Our kids had a lot of grit and perseverance tonight and I’m really proud of them.”

Washington (2-1, 1-0 in the FAC) will have a couple days off before hitting the road for another FAC battle against Chillicothe on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Chillicothe (0-2, 0-1 in the FAC) fell 60-55 to Miami Trace (2-1, 1-0 in the FAC) on Wednesday night. Washington then will travel to take on the Jackson Ironladies (2-0, 1-0 in the FAC) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 6. Jackson defeated McClain on Wednesday by a score of 58-40.

Hillsboro is 1-2 overall, 0-1 in the FAC.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

H 18 12 4 16 — 50

W 9 18 14 12 — 53

WASHINGTON — Kaithlyn Maquiling 0-0-0; Maggi Wall 2 (4)-2-18; Calleigh Wead-Salmi 4-3-11; Eliana Racine 2 (2)-4-14; Trinity George 1-2-4; Peyton Hughes 0-4-4; Calee Ellars 0-0-0; Lilly Shaw 1-0-2. TOTALS — 10 (6)-15-53. Free throw shooting: 15 of 18 for 83 percent. Three-point field goals: Wall 4, Racine 2. Turnovers: 21. Rebounds: 23 (3 offensive).

HILLSBORO — Peighton Bledsoe 4-1-9; Kobie Miles 3 (1)-2-11; Rylie Scott 1-0-2; Tylee Davis 2 (1)-1-8; Addyson Miles 2-0-4; Kyra Boyd 2-1-5; Blake Herdman 2 (1)-4-11. TOTALS — 16 (3)-9-50. Free throw shooting: 9 of 17 for 53 percent. Three-point field goals: K. Miles, Davis, Herdman. Rebounds: 19 (11 offensive). Turnovers: 15

Hillsboro wins jayvee game

In the jayvee contest, Hillsboro defeated Washington by a score of 39-14.