FRANKLIN FURNACE — After making things difficult for three quarters, the Green Lady Bobcats made it too easy in the fourth quarter.

Green trailed by just 4 points going into the fourth quarter, but mistakes in the fourth quarter enabled the Western Lady Indians to pull away to a 73-59 Southern Ohio Conference win Thursday behind 38 points by Kaylee Helton.

“We battled, but at crucial times we’d make crucial mistakes. We’d get close and turn the ball over and give them an easy basket,” Green coach Dale Royse said.

Helton scored 12 points in the first quarter as Western took an 18-14 lead. She got 8 in the second quarter and it was 35-30 at the break.

Elista Hall scored 18 of her 24 points in the second half as Green trailed just 55-51 after three quarters.

But the Lady Bobcats had too many turnovers and missed shots in the fourth quarter as they were outscored 18-8.

“We turned the ball over 21 times and Helton got a lot of those. Helton is a nice player and she knows what to do with the ball when it’s in her hands,” Royse said.

Hall had 3 steals to go with her 24 points, Adrianne Blankenship had a monster game on the boards with 18 rebounds. She also scored 10 points.

Shay Richendollar grabbed 10 boards and hit three 3-pointers while handing out 8 assists.

Shara Stratman scored 16 points for Western (11-4, 8-2).

Western18172018=73

Green1416218=59

WESTERN PIKE (11-4, 8-2): Kayla Gragg 0 0 0-0 0, Tessa Gragg 1 0 0-0 2, Kayla Holton 3 0 2-2 8, Kaylee Helton 14 0 10-13 38, Samantha Darling 3 0 0-2 6, Tabby Riley 1 0 1-2 3, Shara Stratman 4 2 2-4 16. Totals: 26 2 15-23

73. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.

GREEN (7-9, 6-6): Ali Thompson 2 0 0-0 4, Andrianne Blankenship 4 0 2-3 10, Elista Hall 9 1 3-4 24, Abbey Barrett 2 0 0-0 4, Ashlee Runyon 3 00-0 6, Heidi Tackett 1 0 0-0 2, Shay Richendollar 0 3 0-0 9. Totals: 21

4

5-7

59. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Blankenship. Rebounds: 14-26=40 (Blankenship 18, Richendollar 10). Assists: 18 (Richendollar 8, Blankenship 4). Steals: 9 (Hall 3). Turnovers: 21.