Burlington deals Demons 1st SEC loss

WASHINGTON - A goal to defend a Southeast Conference championship took a hit for the Washington Demons Monday when Burlington scored a 66-60 boys basketball victory.

'It's only natural to get upset and say poor me but we have to move on,” Washington head coach Collin Stark said. 'You can't control what the refs are calling, you can't control the way the ball bounces, you can't control whether it goes through the hoop or not. We need to pick up our effort defensively and offensively we have to play together.”

The Demons did both of those things in the third quarter.

'We talked at halftime about getting better shots and playing together,” Stark said. In the third, 'we were taking amazing shots. We were getting dump-down looks, which helped our outside shooting. When you attack and see that ball go through the hoop, then the outside shot will fall.”

In the first half, Washington was shooting the outside first without looking inside. After trailing 17-9 after one period of play, 29-17 halfway through the second quarter and 34-25 at halftime, the Demons opened the second half on a 10-3 run. Bu the league's second-leading rebounder, Lance Sobaski, got his fourth foul with 6 minutes, 8 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

'He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Stark said. 'We just have to be able to rise up when things like that happen and other guys have to have some quality minutes.”

The Demons got the lead at 41-40 with 3:10 to go in the third after an Ethan Patterson steal and bucket and led 49-47 at the end of the quarter.

Kasen Bailey scored eight of his 22 points in the third quarter. Trashaun Willis scored eight of his 13 points in the second half. No one else reached double figures for the Demons, but Lucas Kroll filled the game's stat line with nine rebounds, three steals, seven points and a block. Willis had eight rebounds and Bailey handed out six assists.

Burlington's Michael Alexander had 23 points and Hunter Johnson had 12.

The Grayhounds raced out like it was the beginning of its season, having played two games in the six days before Christmas and a game Saturday, all losses. Former Mt. Pleasant coach Caleb Akey is in his first year at BHS.

'It's nice to get the first win. Burlington could not beat them last year so it's nice to be able to be a part of the family again.”

Akey had some words for his team after the third quarter. 'I challenged them because Washington is hard-nosed and tough and they are going to come get you. That's what they did and we weren't ready for it. They punched us in the mouth and knocked us down.”

Burlington wiped the blood off and got right back into it. Trailing 57-53, BHS closed the game on a 13-3 run.

Washington did not make a field goal in the last 4 minutes of the game.

'Things got chaotic for a little bit and things went their way,” Stark said. 'Alexander is a great player. I don't think his shot was falling, so defensively, he picked it up and he started making dishes.”

The loss was the first in the league for the Demons who are now 5-2, 3-1. Burlington is 1-3, 1-1 with an 88-80 loss to Mt. Pleasant.

'The thing we have to look at is, this is just one game,” Stark said. 'Now we have to be able to do battle at their place.” That game is Jan. 29. The Demon host Albia tonight and host Fairfield Friday.