One of two Fayette County girls basketball teams advanced to the district finals. FAC regular season runner-up Washington Court House clobbered Vinton County 69-53, while the FAC Champ Miami Trace Lady Panthers were knocked-off by Sheridan 41-29.
WASHINGTON CH 69, VINTON COUNTY 53
The Washington Blue Lions raced out to an early lead of 15-1 after 5 minutes of play against Vinton County in the Girls Division 2 Southeast District semifinal at Southeastern High School Thursday night. Junior post player Hannah Haithcock lead the early attack with 8 straight points in the paint, finishing the night with 10 points and 16 rebounds.
The Lady Lions lead at the end of the first quarter 19-6, and extended their lead to 38-17 at the half as 6 different players broke the scoring column with Rayanna Burns and Shawna Conger contributing 7 points each in the half.
In the third quarter of play the teams traded baskets, each scoring 16 points, and the fourth quarter began with the Blue Lions holding a 54-33 lead. Vinton County turned up the pressure in the fourth period and forced Blue Lion turnovers which in turn helped the Vikings trim the lead to 15 points late, but Washington was able to run out the clock for the 69-53 final.
The Blue Lions were lead in scoring by Conger with 18, Bre Taylor 14, Burns 12, and Haithcock 10. Washington, now (22-3) overall will play in the district final next Wednesday, February 28th at 7pm at Southeastern High School.
Vinton County ends their season at (23-2), and we’re lead in scoring by Cassie Bentley and Morgan Bentley with 19 points each.
SHERIDAN 42, MIAMI TRACE 29
Miami Trace opened up an early 6-2 lead against Sheridan and extended that lead to 19-12 at the end of the first quarter, but after that the game belonged to the Sheridan Lady Generals as they defeated the Panthers 42-29.
Both teams struggled to score in the second stanza as Sheridan out scored Miami Trace 4-2 to cut their deficit to 21-16 at the break. The Lady Generals used an 8-1 run to end the third quarter the gain their first lead of the game at 26-24, and continued their run to gain a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter with Rachel Cooke hitting a big 3 point shot followed by a 2 point basket with 3 minutes to play.
Sheridan was lead in scoring by Cooke with 13 and Jena Wharton with 11.
Miami Trace, who shot 20% from the field, was lead in scoring by Olivia Wolfe with 7 points, and Tanner Bryant and Morgan Miller with 6 each. Sheridan, now (22-3) advances to the district final against Washington Court House next Wednesday, February 22nd.
Miami Trace ends their season as FAC champions and a (22-3) record. Buckeye Country 105.5 will broadcast that game, and will be on the air at approximately 6:45 PM.