Hillsboro junior Brayden Hunter defends Washington sophomore Noah Haithcock during the Indians 62-50 upset of the Blue Lions last week.
Photo by Christy Wall
The Washington Blue Lions had an important road trip on Thursday night as they traveled to take on Hillsboro. It was a must-win for the Blue Lions in order to continue to control their own destiny in defending the Frontier Athletic Conference championship. Despite leading after the opening quarter, Hillsboro rallied over the next three quarters and would ultimately pulled away for a big 62-50 victory.
Hillsboro can play spoiler again Tuesday when it visits Miami Trace (8-1 FAC, 14-6 overall).
Washington now needs a win over Jackson on Tuesday and a Miami Trace loss on Tuesday to claim a share of the league crown.
“Congrats to Hillsboro for the win,” said Washington coach Shannon Bartruff. “They had nothing to lose and we knew we had a target on our back going in there. We did not shoot the ball very well, but our energy wasn’t as consistent as it needed to be tonight. We we will have to regroup from tonight This one stings.”
Hillsboro led by as many 16 points in the second half, behind a strong offensive performance from junior Tate Davis who poured in 28 points, with 20 of them coming in the second half.
Freshman Jack Howland also had a big night for the Indians with 18 points.
Washington was led by senior Isaiah Haithcock who finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
H 5 16 19 22 — 62
W 6 12 13 19 — 50
WASHINGTON — Garrett Rickman 1-0-2; John Wall 4-3-11; Will Miller 1 (1)-0-5; Noah Haithcock 4-6-10; Gabe Tayese 1-3-5; Isaiah Haithcock 8-1-17; Jacob Lindsey 0-0-0. TOTALS — 17 (1)-13-50. Free throw shooting: 13 of 18 for 72 percent. Three-point field goals: Wall. Field goal shooting: 18 of 45 for 40 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 1 of 14 for 7 percent. Turnovers: 11. Rebounds: 25 (9 offensive). Blocked shots: 7. Assists: 6. Steals: 7.
HILLSBORO — Mason Dumpert 0-0-0; Tate Davis 6 (4)-4-28; Brayden Hunter 4-1-9; Steven Kibler 1 (1)-0-5; Nic Burns 1-0-2; Jack Howland 4 (2)-4-18; Brady Juillerat 0-0-0, TOTALS — 16 (7)-9-62. Free throw shooting: 9 of 11 for 82 percent. Three-point field goals: Davis 4, Howland 2, Kibler. Turnovers: 13.
