Albia comeback overcomes Demons

A massive dunk by Trashaun Willis gave the Washington High School boys basketball team its first lead of a nonconference game against the visitors from Albia Thursday.

The Willis dunk came with 3 minutes, 25 seconds left in the first quarter for an 11-10 advantage. Albia never led again until under 2 minutes remained in the game.

Cade Hennigan's 3-point attempt at the final buzzer for Washington circled the rim before falling out and Albia got away with a 45-42 triumph.

'The only thing we can control is how hard we play and how together we play and we just focused on that,” Albia coach Kevin Archer said about his team's rally despite trailing all but 6 minutes of the contest. 'We just remained confident that we could make a run.”

The Demons went on a 13-1 run that was keyed by the dunk and led 20-11 early in the second quarter. It was 24-19 at halftime. Willis had two blocks that sparked a 10-3 run midway through the third quarter for a 34-25 advantage.

Archer called timeout and the Blue Demons scored the last eight points of the period.

'That is the point in the game where you have to put on the gas pedal and not let a team back in,” Washington coach Collin Stark said. 'Unfortunately, we let them back in and couldn't quite get that momentum back.”

It was 34-33 Washington starting the fourth quarter, but neither team scored for almost four minutes.

'It just became a half-court game and we are not great in the half court, but I think we are a great team in transition,” Stark said. 'We have to continue to play our game, but we have to be able to adapt and score when the game slows down.”

Washington's Brock Sobaski broke the drought when he got a rebound and basket for a 36-33 Washington lead. Those were his only points of the game.

'Our 1-3-1 zone worked, but if you look at Washington's stats, they are not shooting a great percentage on 3s, so we just took our chances,” Archer said. 'We went man-to-man late and that worked. It wasn't anything we changed, we just stayed the course.”

Hennigan finished with 10 points. Kolten Hinrichsen and Luke Turner had seven each. Ethan Hunt and Willis tallied six apiece.

'When they went to that 1-3-1, we just couldn't make shots,” Stark said. 'We just have to come back to work. This is a game where it is all about putting in the time. Right now, we just are not shooting the ball well. As the season goes on, people are not going to be able to guard us man-to-man, so they will go to the zone. I thought that was the difference in the game.”

It was Albia's seventh consecutive win after losing the season opener.

Washington falls to 2-5. The Demons' next game is Jan. 4 when Mt. Pleasant visits.