The Loogootee Lions and Washington Lady Hatchets have had a history of tight games in the last few years. — so it is not surprising that the 2009 match-up would also go right down to the wire, this time with Washington winning, 49-44.
In spite of a lopsided Loogootee (6-3) lead in the first quarter, Washington (3-4) found a way to shoot themselves back into the game in the second quarter. The two teams then battled for the final 16 minutes of action on Thursday in the Hatchet House.
“I thought it was a tale of two halves,” said WHS coach Gretchen Miles. “We were disappointed with our lack of intensity and our inability to crash the boards. It was completely different in the second half and I really think we fed off our defense.”
“I thought we played pretty well in the first half, but I give Washington and coach Miles a lot of credit. We just couldn’t hit a shot in the second and they hit a lot of big shots,” said Loogootee coach Dave Smith.”
The Lady Hatchets hit big 3-pointers in the final three quarters to help spur the come back. Olivia Brashear had a pair of treys, while on her way to a team-leading 16 points. Mikala Barber and Claire Hatton also knocked down big treys, while Olivia Lengacher had nine in the paint and Payton Shake did a tremendous job on Loogootee’s talented sophomore Wynter Wagoner.
“I was as proud of Payton as anything else with the job she did defensively on Wagoner,” said WHS coach Gretchen Miles.
“All five kids on the floor have to be a scorer for us and you saw that tonight,” said Miles. “Hatton, Brashear and Barber all hit big 3-pointers and Payton did a great job of running the point. I thought Olivia Lengacher had an outstanding move to the basket and I thought Jenna Stoll did a nice job of posting.”
The Lions opened with an impressive first eight minutes, moving out to an 11-4 lead. Kelci Mann had six of her game-leading 19 points, while Taylor Walker drained a trey.
The second quarter opened with Brashear’s first 3-ball of the night. Lengacher picked up five points and Barber added a bucket as the Hatchets didn’t lose any ground, but still went into the half down by seven. Wagoner added two baskets to pace the Lions in the second quarter, along with points from Mann, Tia Pennington and Waynessa Burch.
The Hatchets made their first real run of the game in the third. Brashear had nine points in the third, along with baskets from Hatton and Madi Heacock, two buckets from Shake to finally take the lead. A late trey from Barber moved WHS to a 34-30 lead after three.
“Washington was like 12-19 (from the floor) in the second half. They really turned it up (after starting 2-12) and we made some crucial turnovers,” said Smith.
A 15-14 final period secured the win for the Hatchets, but not without Loogootee making it tight. Pennington had three interior baskets and the Lions were six of six down the stretch from the stripe to go down by just one at 45-44. However, a big 3-pointer from Hatton and four points from Lengacher kept WHS alive during that stretch. Brashear hit a pair of free throws with :22 seconds left and Hatton iced the game with a made pair in the final seconds to give Washington its third win.
Everyone contributed to this win,” said Miles.
“We needed a game like this,” added Smith. “We have won a couple in a row and we may have become a little complacent in practice. I guess I have to take responsibility for that. But we are in this together so we will go back to work to get ready for Saturday.”
There was no JV game played.
