Lemaster Scores 1,000th Career Point in Blue Lions' 63-46 Win at Chillicothe

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Washington’s Shannon Bartruff was wary about facing the Cavaliers, despite Chillicothe’s 3-10 record entering Friday’s contest.

“I feel like they’re a scary team” Bartruff said after the Blue Lions’ 63-46 victory. “I was worried about this game coming in.” His concern derived from the fact the Cavaliers are a bit different than when the two met the first time this season.

An injury to Aaron Valentine and Tayvion Galloway’s departure from the team, that leaves Tre King as Chillicothe’s big presence inside.

“Their guards are really, really good” Bartruff said of Cayden Lee (14 points), Mason Siberell (12 points) and freshman Cooper Stoneking (12 points) who combined for all but eight of the Cavaliers’ 46 points. “Tre’s tough. They’ve got some pieces comin’ off the bench that are really playing hard.”

The Lions saw Chillicothe jump out to a 7-2 lead before clawing their way to an 8-0 run to overtake the Cavs and finish the first period ahead 18-11.

Tanner Lemaster (16 points) scored his 1,000th career point midway through the first half just as Washington appeared to gain momentum. Lemaster’s basket at 6:38 left in the 2nd quarter gave the Blue Lions a 23-16 margin. Following a brief stoppage in play to mark the milestone, Chillicothe went on a run of its own, paced by Lee and Stoneking. Suddenly, Chillicothe was headed into the break with a 27-25 lead.

“Our kids did a really good job of executing the game plan” said Cavs Coach Pat Beard. “They were much taller than we were, more physical than we were, but we were getting crucial rebounds when we needed to. Offensively, we took care of the basketball. We were patient, we moved it, we got good shots. Just an overall good effort by my kids tonight.”

Washington’s strengths began to show in the second half as the Lions began to string together some scoring runs which propelled them to a 45-40 lead after the third period and pulled away outscoring Chillicothe 18-6 in the final quarter.

John Wall aided the Washington scoring with 14 points and Isaiah Haithcock added 11 points for double figure scorers.

The Blue Lions (12-2/6-0) will face Bishop Ready Tuesday night before resuming Frontier Athletic Conference action at home with Jackson (4-6/4-2) next Friday. The Cavaliers (3-11/1-5) will face FAC foe McClain (1-10/0-6) Friday followed by Upper Arlington Saturday at Hatton Gymnasium.

In other FAC contests, Miami Trace (9-1/5-1) defeated McClain 46-30 and Jackson took Hillsboro (5-8/2-4) 47-41.