Demon boys fall to Bloodhounds

The Washington boys? basketball team ran into a tough challenge on the road on Tuesday night.

The Demons struggled to get the offense going against Fort Madison, who sits at 12-2 on the season, as the Bloodhounds handed Washington a 69-29 loss.

?Fort Madison is a very good basketball team,? Washington head coach Bryce Smeins said. ?(Fort Madison senior) Miles Wentzien is probably one of the best players in the state of Iowa, and they play extremely well. We didn?t play very well (on Tuesday). It was a tough night for us on the offensive end, and a tough night defensively, trying to stop one of the best teams in our league.?

Wentzien scored 26 points on the night for Fort Madison.

Washington was led by Blake Weidman?s eight points, as the Demons failed to eclipse 10 points in a quarter until scoring 13 in the fourth, including a third quarter where they were held to only three points.

?We had to control tempo,? Smeins said. ?It couldn?t turn into a transition game. Fort Madison is very good at that and so our possessions needed to be long. I thought we didn?t play great on offense. We were in a hurry and took some quick shots which led to layups on the other end.?

The Demons will try to get back in the win column at home on Friday against a Keokuk team that defeated Washington 77-33 earlier in the year.

?We went down to Keokuk and they were up-tempo, so we need to control the clock and slow them down and shorten the game,? Smeins said. ?Rebounding will be important for us.?

The game will be the second in a boys?-girls? doubleheader that is scheduled to tip off at 6:15 p.m. and will be a part of the Slam Dunk Cancer event.