Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PORTSMOUTH — The St. Joseph Lady Flyers must have thought the game ended early.
The Lady Flyers saw a 7-point first half lead disappear in the second half as they lost 51-47 to the Portsmouth Clay Lady Panthers in a Southern Ohio Conference game on Thursday.
“Clay was more aggressive than us and we were careless and soft with the ball,” said Lady Flyers’ coach Bart Burcham.
“I thought both seniors stepped up and tried to lead, but it wasn’t enough tonight. We’ll work and get this fixed before next Thursday.”
Senior Kaitlyn Sheridan and junior Emma Whaley scored 11 points each to lead the Lady Flyers. Sophomore Bella Whaley got 9 points with senior Faith Mahmeister and freshman Gracie Damron adding 7 points each.
Mahlmeister and Bella Whaley had 7 rebounds each and Chloe Sheridan got 6 rebounds.
Kat Cochran got 14 points, Shaley Munion 11 and Jaelyn Warnock 10 for the Lady Panthers (6-15, 5-8).
“Kaitlynn played well, Chloe had a good game, Faith and Gracie played hard. We just weren’t consistent as a team,” said Burcham.
Emma Whaley drained a pair of 3-pointers and scored 8 points as St. Joseph took a 14-7 first quarter lead.
Faith Mahlmeister scored 6 points and Emma Whaley made another trey in the second quarter as the lead was 27-20 at the half.
Cochran hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 8 points in the second quarter for Clay.
Bella Whaley made a 3-pointer and had 5 points while Kaitlyn Sheridan had 4 points, but Kenzie Loper made two 3-pointers and Sophia Gatti got 5 points in the third quarter as Clay cut the deficit to 36-34.
Cochran had two more triples and Gatti got a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter as Clay rallied by outscoring the Lady Flyers 17-11.
Kaitlyn Sheridan and Damron scored 4 points each for the Lady Flyers (10-11, 6-7).
St. Joseph host Symmes Valley next Thursday.
St. Joseph 14 13 9 11 = 47
Ports. Clay 7 13 14 17 = 51
ST. JOSEPH (10-11, 6-7): Kaitlyn Sheridan 5 0 1-3 11, Faith Mahlmeister 2 0 3-4 7, Emma Whaley 1 3 11, Bella Whaley 2 1 2-2 9, Chloe Sheridan 1 0 0-0 2, Gracie Damron 3 0 1-1 7, Aubrey Sutton 0 0 0-0 0, Kerri Jenkins 0 0 0-0 0. Rebounds: 30 (Mahlmeister 7, B. Whaley 7, C. Sheridan 6, E. Whaley 4, Damron 2, K. Sheridan 2, Sutton 2). Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.
PORTSMOUTH CLAY (6-15, 5-8): Sophia Gatti 1 2 0-0 6, Shaley Munion 3 1 2-5 11, Kelsey Fowler 0 0 0-0 0, Megan Bazler 0 0 1-2 1, Jaelyn Warnock 5 0 0-0 10, Kat Cochran 1 4 0-1 14, Laiken Skinner 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 8 3-8 51. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.