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Washington Evening Journal
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Demon boys hoops wins opener over Blue Demons
Washington’s big second and third period propels it to first victory
WASHINGTON — It took Washington boys’ basketball a while to get going in its season opener against Albia on Tuesday, but once the Demons got a firm hold of the lead they never lost it on their way to a 58-53 win.
Washington and Albia traded blows early in the non-conference bout. The two teams tied twice in the first three minutes at 5-5 and then 8-8 off a three from sophomore Kael Williams.
Albia got 11 straight points from junior Rowen Archer to start the game, ending with the Blue Demons leading 11-8 with around three minutes left in the period.
In the final 2:30, Albia outscored Washington 6-2 to extend its lead to seven, 17-10, heading into the second.
To begin the second, the Blue Demons tacked on six more with another 6-2 run pushing their lead to 23-12. That proved to be Albia’s largest lead of the night as Washington began to fire on both sides of the floor, closing out the quarter on a 15-2 run of its own.
The Demons hit a trifecta of deep balls during that span, which included two from freshman Nic Stone. Stone dropped in eight of the Demon’s 15 points.
At the break, the Demons held onto a 27-25 lead. The momentum of the second carried over into the third period for Washington.
While Albia stole back the advantage to begin the third period at 31-29, the Demons blistered the Blue Demons for over the five minutes.
Williams and Drew Conrad knocked down back-to-back threes which started an 11-0 run to the 2:21 mark, making it 40-31. It didn’t stop there.
After a two by Albia, senior Roman Roth split at the stripe and Conrad took over. The sophomore hit a three and then notched back-to-back layups to give Washington its largest lead of the evening, 48-33.
By the end of the third, Washington held onto a 11 point lead, 48-37.
In the fourth, Albia outscored Washington 16-10 and came within six at 56-50, but it was too little too late.
Conrad and Williams each led the Demons with 14 points. Logan McDole followed with 12.
Washington is now 1-0 on the season and will take on Grinnell (1-0) on Thursday.
