Demons defense damps down Indians

WASHINGTON - The beauty of basketball is the adjustments teams must make from one game to the next.

Tuesday, it was a challenge for the Demons to adjust after a running, scoring No. 4 Pella Dutch team blitzed Washington last week. A slow-it-down, patient, workmanlike Oskaloosa team forced a completely different game, but the Demons handled the nonconference visitors with a 50-30 win.

'After Pella, we worked almost exclusively on defensive drills,” WHS head coach Collin Stark said. 'I think they might be getting tired of it.”

'No, we love it,” said junior forward Lucas Kroll. 'We know defense wins championships so we really focused on it in every single practice and I think that showed tonight.”

Oskaloosa is 1-3 with losses to top-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes and Newton, which was 11th in the latest poll. The Demons are 2-1 with 32- and 42-point games, losing to No. 4 Pella 87-55, winning at Centerville 90-38. Washington gets its first Southeast Conference action Friday at Mt. Pleasant.

Tuesday's battle between a team that wants to play fast and a team that wants to play slow kept either team from getting into any kind of a flow. The Demons held the visitors without a pointuntil 1 minute, 30 seconds remained in the first quarter, which ended at 12-7 for WHS. The second quarter played out the same and it was 25-14 at halftime.

'I think we were pressing a little bit too much,” Stark said. 'We have to let the game come to us. I thought we were impatient.”

Stark wants his Demons to work on dictating the tempo.

'We have kids who can the score of the ball but we have to be working together. We can't go one on five,” the coach said.

A consistent Lance Sobaski came off the Washington bench to put in 6-of-8 shots and 1-of-2 free throws for 13 points, scoring seven in the first half and six in the second. He nearly had a double-double with eight rebounds and swiped three steals while handing out three assists. Kroll had five points, three assists, two rebounds, a steal and numerous screens set.

'We talked a lot in practice about setting screens for the offense to try to get each other open,” Kroll said. 'I work on doing the little things in practice because I want to do whatever is best for my team.”

Kasen Bailey had 10 points and a missed dunk attempt for the Demons. Ethan Patterson and Trashaun Willis had nine points apiece and Willis had a missed dunk attempt in the second half but a very successful one to end the first half.

Defensive pressure by the Demons held Oskaloosa without a field goal 28 seconds were left in the third quarter. By that time, the Demons had a 34-19 edge. The Demons put the game out of reach with a Lucas Kroll bucket and a LanLance Sobaski rebound and put-back to start the final frame, which prompted a timeout from Indians coach Brandon Lenhart, who yelled at his team constantly throughout the game.

Three Indians scored five each and Carson Genskow led with eight points.

Washington had 13 assists, going 18-of-39 from the field, 14-for-27 on 2-pointers and 4-for-12 on threes.

'We have to figure out how to run but be patient and get great shots instead of getting OK shots,” Stark said. 'We have two practices to get ready for Mt. Pleasant.”