Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

The St. Joseph Lady Flyers appeared to be locked AND loaded.
Playing aggressive on both ends of the floor, the Lady Flyers used the combined 41 points of Emma and Bella Whaley along with strong rebounding and defense to beat the Portsmouth Clay Lady Panthers 52-34 in a Southern Ohio Conference game.
“The girls shared the ball tonight probably as well as we have all year. The last three games they’ve been locked in and playing great together,” said Lady Flyers’ coach Bart Burcham.
Emma Whaley drained five 3-pointers and poured in 26 points while Bella Whaley had 15 points and 18 rebounds to pace the Lady Flyers.
Gracie Damron had a career-high with 15 rebounds for St. Joseph (3-11, 3-6). Laiken “The Enforcer” Unger had 6 rebounds, Riley Daniels 5 and Emilee Blankenship and Emma Whaley grabbed 4 each as the Lady Flyers had 53 rebounds as a team.
“Emma getting back in the groove. She and we needed a game like that. Bella played awesome again and if a few shots didn’t rim out, she would have had 25 instead of 15,” said Burcham.
“Gracie controlled the lane on both ends of the floor. Laiken Unger played great again. She brings so much hustle and energy. Daniels played good minutes, too. She hit a big 3 on our run to get the big lead in the first half.”
St. Joseph led 9-4 after the first quarter as Emma Whaley hit a 3-pointer and scored 5 points. Kat Cochran had a triple for Clay (0-14, 0-8).
Keyed by Daniels’ 3-pointer, St. Joseph’s offense heated up with Bella Whaley hitting a pair of 3-pointers and scoring 8 points while Emma Whaley had a 3-pointer among her 8 points. Blankenship added the other basket and it was 30-11 at the break.
Emma Whaley drained a pair of trifecta and scored 10 points in the third quarter while Bella Whaley had 5 points and Blankenship another basket as the lead grew to 47-24.
Clay got 3-pointers in the quarter from Shaley Munion, Kenzie Loper and Cochran. The Lady Panthers were 8-of-35 from 3-point range for the game.
Emma Whaley’s trey and Ava Weber’s basket accounted for all of St. Joseph’s scoring in the fourth quarter. Maggie Swayne and Munion hit 3-pointers for Clay.
St. Joseph visits Rose Hill Wednesday and Symmes Valley on Thursday.
Ports. Clay 4 7 13 10 = 34
St. Joseph 9 21 17 5 = 52
PORTSMOUTH CLAY (0-14, 0-8): Shaley Munion 3 2 2-2 14, Kenzie Loper 1 1 0-0 5, Tabby Whitt 0 0 0-0 0, Megan Bazier 0 0 1-6 1, Kat Cochran 1 3 0-0 11, Kyleigh Oliver 0 0 0-0 0, Maggie Swayne 0 1 0-0 3, Morgan McCoy 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 5 7 3-8 34. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.
ST. JOSEPH (3-11, 3-6): Emma Whaley 4 5 3-5 26, Bella Whaley 4 2 1-2 15, Gracie Damron 1 0 0-2 2, Laiken Unger 0 0 0-0 0, Emilee Blankenship 2 0 0-0 4, Riley Daniels 0 1 0-0 3, Ava Weber 1 0 0-0 2, Addie Philabun 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 7 4-9 52. Rebounds: 53 (B. Whaley 18, Damron 15, Unger 6, Daniels 5, Blankenship 4, E. Whaley 4, Weber 1). Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.