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Washington Evening Journal
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Demon boys hang on at home
Washington holds off late Oskaloosa rally for 2-point non-conference victory
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WASHINGTON — The Washington High School gym has been a haven for nail-biting victories for the Demon boys basketball team this year, and another one took place on Tuesday night.
Washington held off a late rush by visiting Oskaloosa, surviving a couple of late chances to tie the game and walking off with a 55-53 home win.
“I think there are things you can't emulate in practice,” Demon head coach Collin Stark said. “We've worked on late game situation type stuff, but in game, I think there are things we can learn from this.”
The Demons had to shut Oskaloosa down two times in the final 10 seconds. The Indians saw a potential game-tying shot go off the side of the rim with just over five seconds to go, but got the ball right back after a five-second call in the ensuing inbound play.
The Washington defense collapsed inside as Oskaloosa attempted to get to the block for a game-tying layup. Surrounded by defenders, the Indians’ last breath came up short when Rajan Roth stripped the ball in the final second of play.
“It was hard, defensively, to get around their big guys,” Roth said. “We kind of managed it well with backside help, played good defense and got a lot of deflections inside.”
Roth had set the tone early on, scoring 14 first-half points to help the Demons get out to a 17-13 lead after the first quarter and a 35-16 advantage by halftime.
Washington’s lead was down to just four, at 44-40, after three. Oskaloosa had been within one point at the end of the third, but previously-injured junior Kael Williams knocked down a three-pointer in the final minute of play.
Oskaloosa kept creeping back into it in the fourth, but Washington had an answer every time, despite the consistent absence of senior playmaker Logan McDole, who was in foul trouble for most of the game. McDole picked up his fifth shortly after stretching the Demon lead to 54-49 with 1:50 showing on the clock.
Roth finished the night with 18 points to lead the Demons. McDole had nine. Williams scored eight. Nic Stone finished with seven. Drew Conrad and Oliver Hobscheidt had six each, and Conner Leyden finished with two.
Washington is now 3-3 overall. The Demons will put a 2-0 conference record on the line at Mt. Pleasant (0-5, 0-2) on Friday night.
