Coming off of their first league loss on Saturday the Washington Court House Lady Lions came out looking to prove a point on Monday as they defeated the McClain Lady Tigers 50-32 to pick up their first League Championship in nearly 12 years, and they did it with defense.
McClain, down two point guards for the contest came out and fought hard all night, never giving up and kept it close through the first quarter, only trailing by two 7-5. Washington came out in the second quarter and went on a 6-1 run to go up 13-6 but McClain battled back behind scoring from Kellie Uhrig and Kyla Burchett, who had all the McClain points in the first half, The Lady Lions only outscored McClain by one 14-13 in the quarter but held a 21-13 halftime lead.
McClain had too many turnovers in the first half, 12 and the Blue Lions were able to turn those turnovers into points. For the half McClain was 10-37 for 27% and 1-5 from beyond the arc for 20% but they did out rebounded the Blue Lions 10 to 6. Washington shot great in the first half, going 10-21 for 48% but didn't manage a make from beyond the arc, they committed 7 first half turnovers.
Washington 17-5 (9-1) came out with the same intensity to start the third quarter and outscored McClain 16-10 to push their lead to 37-23 entering the final frame. With the game somewhat out of reach in the final period Coach Leach removed all of her Senior's on Senior night and the last was Hannah Haithcock who left to a standing ovation from the Blue Lion Faithful.
Hannah led all scores tonight with 16, followed closely by Rayana Burns with 15. The Lady Lions finished shooting 19-50 for 38% and managed only one 3-point make, going 1-8 and they were 5-7 from the free throw line. They committed just 15 turnovers and pulled down 20 rebounds. Washington now moves on to play Waverly in the Div. II Sectionals on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. at Adena. Buckeye Country 105.5FM/iHeartRadio air time will be 6 p.m.
McClain 13-8 (5-4) was led in scoring by Kelli Uhrig's 11 and Kyla Burchett chipped in 9. They were 10-37 for 27% shooting and were 2-9 from beyond the arc, they made 6-9 free throws, committed 26 turnovers and pulled down 21 rebounds. McClain next moves on to play Miami Trace Saturday at 2:45 p.m. in the Sectional Tournament at Adena, Buckeye Country broadcast time will be 2:30 p.m.