Demon boys searching for right lineup

With four starters gone due to graduation, a lot of minutes are up for grabs for the Washington boys? basketball team, and they?ve responded.

According to head coach Bryce Smeins, the Demons? early practices have been spirited, as the athletes all want to see their time on the court increase this season.

?Competition has been really good in practice so far, and there are minutes to be got,? Smeins said. ?The kids have really practiced hard. We don?t have a lot of size, so that will be an issue again, but it?s been that way for a decade now.?

What will it take to earn those minutes on the court? That all comes down to fundamentals.

?You have to be active on the defensive end, rebound and know what we want to do on offense,? Smeins said. ?Our lineup could be pretty fluid this year. It might look different every Tuesday and Friday night.?

The Demons may lose a number of starters from last season, but return an important piece of the puzzle in senior guard Derek Anding.

Anding led the team in scoring last season, finishing fourth in the conference in scoring average last year with 13.4 points per game.

Anding also notched 3.2 rebounds per game, as he was named to the second team All Conference. His offseason activity, which included playing in the prestigious Primetime League this summer, should only help improve his game.

?He?s come into camp in really good shape. He worked hard in the offseason and got to play in the Primetime League, which was a good experience for him. He got to play against college kids that you see in the Hawkeye games, and that was good. He?s spent a lot of time and looks really good early in camp.?

Another guard who will be helping Anding in the backcourt is senior Jack Giardino.

Giardino (3.1 points, 1 rebounds per game) was often the first guard off the bench for the Demons a season ago, and figures to see his role expanded right from the get-go this season.

?He is a good athlete,? Smeins said. ?You watch him play football or run hurdles and he?s really competitive. He has a great grasp of how to play as a team and he has been a good leader for us. Your point guards need to do that.?

One of the biggest challenges facing the Demons is a murderer?s row of a schedule to start the season.

Washington opens the season against Muscatine, who boasts Iowa commit Joe Wieskamp, and goes on to play five games in eight days with Fairfield, Ottumwa and Sigourney coming to Washington High school and then playing at Oskaloosa on Dec. 15.

?We play Muscatine in game one, and that?s murderous with a Division I commit already, so we?ll find out where we are that night,? Smeins said. ?When we get back from Oskaloosa on Dec. 15, after those first five games in eight days, we?ll find out what we are made of and where we need to get better.?

Add in that the Demons have a tough conference with improving Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant teams, to go with Fort Madison and Keokuk, and Smeins knows this season will be a battle.

?We need to go every day at practice, and just work on getting better,? Smeins said. ?We are going to be young at some spots, and that might hurt us some nights. We just need to keep progressing and we play a lot of tough teams. I?m a fan of playing tough teams. There will be no easy nights in the conference this year.?