The Chillicothe Lady Hornets welcomed in MEC opponent St. Pius on Tuesday night. Chillicothe entered 11-3 on the season and 1-0 in the Midland Empire Conference, while the Warriors were also 1-0 in conference play.
Chillicothe started strong, scoring the first 7 points of the contest, and were ahead 14-8 at the end one the first quarter but St. Pius rallied to take the lead in the 2nd quarter. Chillicothe closed out the half strong to go ahead by six, with balanced scoring offensively. Six different Lady Hornets had field goals in the first half.
The Lady Hornets kept up the pressure to open the 2nd half, extending the margin to double digits before a three pointer by Maecy Hinkebein cut the deficit to seven entering the 4th quarter for the Warriors. Chillicothe’s offense sputtered at times in the 2nd half, including a scoreless stretch that spanned over 7 minutes, but when called upon, the Lady Hornets relied on the senior leadership and experience from Liz Oliver who finished with a game high 20 points for Chillicothe including 5 critical free throws down the stretch. St. Pius hung in the fight and scored to make it a 42-40 game with under 20 seconds left. Chillicothe perfectly executed against the full court press, and Ava Leamer converted a three point play with 12 seconds to go that sealed the victory for Chillicothe.
The Lady Hornets improve to 12-3 on the year and 2-0 in the MEC. St. Pius is now 5-7 overall and 1-1 in the conference. Chillicothe will be back in action Thursday night hosting East Buchanan.
Chillicothe 14 25 35 45
St. Pius X 8 19 28 43
Individual scoring:
Chillicothe – Oliver 20, Lyla Beetsma 10, Leamer 5, Lydia Bonderer 5, Lexy Smith 3, Emerson Staton 2
St. Pius X – Hinkebein 16, Kate Sell 12, Caroline McCoy 12, Hayley Tischinski 3