As Yogi Berra once said, “It was deja vu all over again “ for the Chillicothe Lady Cavs. For the second time in three nights the Cavs held a five point lead going to the final quarter. Again for the second time the Lady Cavs saw an opposing player score in double figures in the final 8 minutes, and again the Chillicothe girls saw a win slip away late.
Both the Iron ladies and Lady Cavs suffered through lots of contact and cold shooting in the first half. Chillicothe went just 4 of 25 in the first two quarters while Jackson was 6 of 29.
Jackson, who started 4 freshmen, and Chillicothe, who started 3 sophomores and subbed a freshman, both settled down in the third quarter. Jacey Harding and Avery Erslan hit back to back threes and Paige Huggins dropped in a bucket to help the Lady Cavs go up 25-20 after three.
When Emma Fromm hit her second three in the final period, it looked like the Lady Cavs were on their way to a win.
However freshman Sydney Hughes, who was 0-9 from the floor, suddenly found the range. Hughes notched a baseline jumper and then a corner three to pull Jackson within one.
Lady Cav Emma Barnes came back in the final minute with an old fashioned three point play and the Cavs were up by 2. Jackson missed a jumper with 15 seconds, but the rebound bounced high and was tipped out to Hughes who drained the game winning three.
Chillicothe had a final chance but two inside shots in traffic wouldn’t fall.
Fromm led Chillicothe with 11, Harding had 8, all in the second half, and Barnes notched 7 and was in double figures in rebounds.
Hughes had 12, all in the final quarter, while Mattie Walburn added 10 for Jackson.
Jackson wound up 17 of 55 from the floor, 2 of 17 on threes, and 0-6 from the foul line.
Lady Cavs finished 10 of 50 for 20%. Chillicothe hit 4 of 13 threes and shot a solid 11 of 14 from the foul line.
The tough luck Lady Cavs fall to 2-6 and 0-5 in FAC play. Chillicothe returns to FAC play Saturday afternoon when they host first place Miami Trace. You can hear the game with Greg Bigam and Lou Postage on WBEX 1490 and on the IHeartRadio App.