Demon girls come up just short

Washington — The Washington girls basketball team was just a couple of plays from first place in the Southeast Conference when the Demons hosted Fort Madison on Friday night.

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The Demons were hoping to hand the Bloodhounds their first loss in conference play, but Fort Madisons held on 32-28 to stay ahead in the standings.

The Demons led early on, taking a 7-4 advantage into the first break and a 12-11 advantage at the half, as both teams buckled down on defense for the first 16 minutes of play.

"Defensively, we just dug in," said Washington head coach Shannon Rugg. "We scratched and clawed, and did whatever we had to do to get stops."

Fort Madison took the lead in the third quarter and held a 21-17 advantage after the third horn. The Bloodhounds had led by nine points during the fourth quarter, but the Demons weren't done fighting.

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Washington sliced the Fort Madison lead all the way down to two, at 28-26, when Adalyn Long hit two free throws with 1:06 remaining in the game. Nearly one minute later, Addison Miller did the same thing, cutting the game to 30-28 on a pair of free throws with 11 seconds showing.

After Fort Madison's Halle Menke went one of two from the line, the Demons had a shot to tie the game, down 31-28 with the ball. A turnover out of bounds ended the threat, and the Bloodhounds iced it with a free throw on the other end.

"I'm super proud of this group," Rugg said. "We knew Fort Madison was leading the conference, and the girls came out and competed extremely hard."

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Long led the Demons with 13 points in the loss. Miller finished with five. Kendall Hinrichsen and Oaklee Sobaski scored three points each, and both Sarah Burto and Lauren Hinrichsen had two.

The loss for Washington dropped the Demons to 2-2 in SEC play. Fort Madison is a perfect 4-0.