Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

LATHAM — The St. Joseph Lady Flyers wished they could go back an erase the first quarter.

The Western Indians outscored the Lady Flyers 23-7 in the first quarter and then scored just 16 points the rest of the game as they held on for a42-34 Southern Ohio Conference win on Thursday.

Western made four 3-pointers in the first quarter as Chloe Beekman scored 8 points, Kenzi Ferneau 7 and Jordy Rittenhouse added 5 to open up a 23-7 lead.

Bella Whaley hit a 3-pointer and scored all 7 of the Lady Flyers’ points.

Gracie Damron had 4 points, Addie Philabaun 3 and Emily Litton 2 in the second quarter as St. Joseph cut the deficit to 27-16 at the half.

Whaley drilled another pair of treys in the third quarter and Damron had 3 more points for the Lady Flyers who closed the gap to 32-26.

But in the fourth quarter, St. Joseph held Western to only 7 points as Unger scored 4 points, Damron had a basket and Whaley made two foul shots as the Lady Flyers could only managed 8 points.

Whaley finished with a game-high 15 points and had 5 rebounds. Unger got 5 points and grabbed 8 rebounds while Damron had a nice game with 9 points and 6 rebounds.

Beckman scored 14 points to lead a balanced Western offense.

On Monday, St. Joseph will entertain Sciotoville East.

St. Joseph 7 9 10 8 = 34

Western 23 4 5 7 = 42

ST. JOSEPH (0-3, 0-2): Bella Whaley 2 3 2-2 15, Laiken Unger 2 0 1-2 5, Gracie Damron 4 0 1-2 9, Addie Philabaun 1 0 1-2 3, Mia Weber 0 0 0-0 0, Emily Litton 1 0 0-0 2, Ava Weber 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 3 5-8 34. Rebounds: 29 (Unger 8, Damron 6, Litton 6, Whaley 5). Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.

WESTERN (1-1, 1-0): Breleigh Tackett 0 0 0-0 0, Jordyn Rittenhouse 2 1 1-2 8, Kerrigan Marhoover 0 0 0-0 0, Taylor Grooms 1 1 2-6 7, Alyssa Marhoover 2 0 0-0 4, Chloe Beekman 3 2 2-2 14, Kenzie Ferneau 2 1 2-6 9, Macie Colburn 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 5 7-16 42. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: None.