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Washington Evening Journal
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Demon girls get it done
Washington holds off Mt. Pleasant to secure season sweep
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MT. PLEASANT — Former Mt. Pleasant prep Colin Mulford picked up his first win as a head coach on the court at Mt. Pleasant Community High School on Friday night, as his Washington Demons held off the hosting Panthers in Southeast Conference play.
One night after polishing off the regular season sweep of Fairfield, Washington worked through some offensive struggles to put another one in the win column, beating the rival Panthers 51-43.
“You can’t take anyone for granted,” said Mulford. “We played really well last night, both defensively and offensively, and tonight I think we just assumed it would come to us right away.”
Washington had beaten Mt. Pleasant by 22 points in the previous meeting, and the Demons have now won six-straight games in the rivalry, though Friday’s contest was the tightest of all six of those contests.
Washington led 13-7 after one quarter, 21-16 at halftime and 39-27 after the third. The Demons looked like they were ready to run away with it on a couple of different occasions, but Mt. Pleasant continued to chip away before the time ran out.
“It was our best four quarters of the year, I thought,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Curt Watson. “A couple of shots here or there, or a couple less turnovers and we’re right there.”
The big difference in the game, as it so often has been for Washington, was a stellar second-half performance by Adalyn Long. The Demon senior scored 13 of her 22 points in the last two quarters, and that proved to be enough to keep Washington in front for the rest of the game.
“We’ve been through a lot this season, and we’ve learned how to finish out a game,” said Long. “We know if we just keep shooting, it will go in eventually.”
Long was one of two Demons in double figures. Reagan Miller put in 10 points. Ashlynn Long scored five. Leighton Messinger and Sarah Berdo finished with four each. Oaklee Sobaski scored two, and Vivienne Kroll chipped in with one.
Mt. Pleasant’s Paityn Ensminger ended the night with 15 points. Abby Carthey finished with 13. Myah Starr had seven. Abigail Shelangoski scored six. Kynlee White put in three, and Elodie Rawson scored one.
Washington moved to 10-7 overall and 5-3 with the win. After a 76-36 loss to No. 9 (3A) Mediapolis, Mt. Pleasant is now 3-14 overall and 0-8 in league play.
