Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

NEW BOSTON — Playing two of the better teams in Scioto County on back-to-back nights was a tall order for the St. Joseph Lady Flyers.
But the Lady Flyers were up to the challenge only to fall short in their scoring efforts, but not their overall effort.
After falling to South Webster on Wednesday, the Lady Flyers lost a heartbreaker in the final seconds as the fell 34-33 to the New Boston Lady Tigers.
“These girls have played so hard the last two nights. I’m proud of them and I know it will continue because these girls are fighters,” said Lady Flyers’ coach Bart Burcham.
St. Joseph was leading by 5 points with three minutes to play when New Boston staged its comeback as Shelby Easter hit a shot with 13 seconds to play that put New Boston ahead 34-33.
Bella Whaley managed to get off a rushed shot that hit the back of the rim.
“New Boston is a good team. They had lost a few games in a row lately because they only have five players and they had to play a lot of games in a few days,” said Burcham. “Give them credit. They found a way to win, but our girls are going to continue to battle and figure this out.”
Bella Whaley had 12 points and 14 rebounds to pace the Lady Flyers (2-11, 2-6). Riley Daniels scored 7 points and had 6 rebounds while Emilee Blankenship and Chloe Sheridan had 5 rebounds each.
Easter led New Boston (7-7, 6-3) with 13 points and Dylan O’Rourke added 10.
Eastern had 5 points in the first quarter as New Boston went up 10-7. Whaley had 4 points and Daniels hit a 3-pointer for the Lady Flyers’ scoring.
St. Joseph got within 19-17 at the half as Whaley went 4-for-4 at the line, Daniels drained another trifecta and Gracie Damron added a basket.
The Lady Flyers came out and took a 29-26 lead in the third quarter as Emma Whaley and Blankenship had 4 points each.
But the Lady Flyers offense cooled off as they managed only a basket each by Blankenship and Bella Whaley in the fourth quarter after building a 5-point lead.
O’Rourke hit a pair of 3-pointers to get New Boston within a point and set up Easter for the winning shot.
St. Joseph host Portsmouth Clay at 6 p.m. on Monday.
St. Joseph 7 10 12 6 = 33
New Boston 10 9 7 8 = 34
ST. JOSEPH (2-11, 2-6): Emma Whaley 2 0 0-0 4, Emilee Blankenship 3 0 0-0 6, Bella Whaley 4 0 4-6 12, Chloe Sheridan 1 0 0-0 2, Gracie Damron 1 0 0-0 2, Laiken Unger 0 0 0-0 0, Riley Daniels 0 2 1-3 7, Ava Weber 0 0 0-0 0, Addie Philabaun 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 2 5-9 33. Rebounds: 38 (B. Whaley 14, Daniels 6, Blankenship 5, Sheridan 5, Damron 3, Unger 3, E. Whaley 2). Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.
NEW BOSTON (7-7, 6-3): Cadence Williams 1 1 1-4 6, Shelby Easter 4 0 5-6 13, Kenzie Whitley 2 0 1-4 5, Dylan O’Rourke 1 2 2-6 10, Cassie Williams 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 8 3 9-20 34. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.