Washington Demons ground Newton Cardinals

WASHINGTON - Of course basketball games are decided on the court, but sometimes they are won in the locker room.

Washington High School girls coach Shannon Rugg changed his defense at halftime of a Class 4A Region 6 first round game Wednesday and the result was a 43-36 triumph over the visitors from Newton, which ends its season with a 7-15 record.

The final score was the largest Demons lead of the game.

The Demons improve to 12-9, breaking a four-games losing streak to end the regular season.

Washington advances and plays at second-ranked Marion Saturday.

The Demons scored the first five points and led 10-9 after the first quarter, but by halftime it was a 24-18 deficit.

'We have been playing a lot of zone, so I don't think they were expecting man-to-man,” Rugg said. 'At halftime, we went to man. I didn't think they (newton) were at their best with ball handling, so that was another reason we switched to a man at halftime. The kids responded.”

The Demons held the visitors to five points in the third quarter and just 12 points total in the second half.

Newton scored a 2-pointer with 3 minutes, 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter and hit a 23-footer at the buzzer to lead 29-27.

'I thought our defense in the second half really gave them fits,” Rugg said. 'Offensively, we just patched it together like we have done all year long.”

Washington was steady, scoring 10 in the first quarter, eight in the second and nine in the third. Like many games this season, the fourth quarter was theirs.

'The start of the fourth quarter, I asked the girls, ‘how many times have we been in this situation.'” Rugg said. 'We are comfortable and we know what to do. The girls proved it and they went out and did it.”

Olivia Pacha led the way for the Demons with a double-double. She put up 11 points and took down 14 rebounds, 10 defensive and four offensive.

'We needed her to rebound because I thought we were struggling with that,” Rugg said. 'I'm sure glad she got those. She has really come on in the last month of the season. She's a senior who doesn't want her career to end yet.”

'Rugg told us that we had to get rebounds,” Pacha said. 'It didn't feel like we rebounded that well, but it was easier when we switched to a man because it's easier to block somebody out then than when you are in a zone.”

In the second half, Pacha had to guard Mackenzie Baker, who had scored eight points in the first half against the zone. Baker had one field goal and two free throws in the second half.

'When Rugg told me I had to guard their high scorer, I was a little worried,” said Pacha, who made 5-of-8 free throws in the game. 'We had one open gym where we had to make 100 free throws so that helps a lot us do a little better on free throws besides working on them every day in practice.”

Anna Nacos led the Demons in points with 22. She made four threes and was 5-of-6 on free throws.

'Anna really understands the game,” Rugg said. 'She makes good decisions 90 percent of the time. I don't think she has made a bad decision all year long in a crucial situation. Of course she has made some bad ones, but not at crucial times. We trust her.”

Nacos was also crucial as the point guard.

'I got some good passes that set me up for my 3-pointers,” Nacos said. 'There were a few times where I was able to just beat them down court. That made those driving attempts easier. Every shot we make is important. It doesn't matter who makes them.”

Trailing 31-26, Halle Leyden made a 3-pointer right after Newton had scored for the first time in the second half and called a timeout.

'Halle doesn't shoot as much as we'd like her to, but her 3-pointers have been at big points in games this year,” Rugg said.

Leyden also had two assists. Addison Six had six rebounds while Kinsey Duwa grabbed five. Six had four assists.

Meg Callaghan averages 12.5 points a game and scored eight for Newton.

'We average almost 49 points a game and if we had hit that, we would have won,” Newton head coach Eric Vander Velden said. 'Credit their defense. We could not get the ball down low with their two post players. They hit some big threes when they needed them. They made their free throws down the stretch when we fouled trying to get back in it.”