Could the Washington Lady Jays pull of the big upset in the opening round of the Borgia Girls Tournament Monday?
Facing Helias, the Lady Jays closed to within four points midway through the third quarter, 29-25.
But second-seeded Helias showed why it was rated so highly by closing out the quarter with 12 points in a row to seal what was a 48-37 victory.
“Our girls played a very hard-fought game tonight against Helias,” Washington Head Coach Adam Fischer said. “We battled them for four straight quarters and took many of their runs and made a few of our own right back at them. When we cut the lead to four halfway through the third quarter, we missed a few of our defensive assignments and they made us pay for them.”
Helias advances to play sixth-seeded Troy, which did pull off the upset over Union Monday, 55-36. That game will tip off at 6:40 p.m.
“Helias is a great team and Coach (Doug) Light has them playing really well,” Fischer said. “I was proud of my team’s effort all night. Playing a team like Helias this late in the season will only make us tougher for the last part of the year.”
Washington will play Union Wednesday at 4 p.m. It will be the third meeting of the season between the teams and second within a week. Union won both previous meetings, including last Friday’s contest.
This game has added significance. With no seventh-place game, the loser is done in the tournament while the winner advances to Saturday’s 1 p.m. consolation game against either Cardinal Ritter or Sumner.
Helias was led by its senior standout guard Taylor Hagenhoff, who netted 20 points.
Emma Verslues recorded 10 points with most of those coming in the first quarter.
Kelsi Bernskoetter concluded with six points, Bre Zanders added four, Megan Nappier and Hillary Hentges scored two points apiece and Mackenzie Casten added one.
Washington was led by senior Kaitlin Evans and junior Megan Bauche, who each ended the game with nine points.
Evans scored seven of her nine points in the first quarter and early in the second quarter.
Kirstie Leslie scored six points while Paige Carpenter added five, Alex Ready scored four and Courtney Kedroski and Helena Ballmann netted two points apiece.
