Demons dominate early, falter late in loss

Despite the predicted snowstorm, the Washington High School boys basketball team was hot to start the Southeast Conferencegame against the visitors from Fairfield Thursday.

The game was moved up 24 hours because of the predicted weather, but Washington wasn't fazed, leading 14-9 after one quarter and extending that lead to 25-17 before settling for a 28-23 lead at halftime. The second half did not go as well and the Demons lost 50-46.

'When we are at our best, I think we can play with some of the best,” Washington coach Collin Stark said.

'We missed a lot of shots inside early,” Fairfield coach Mick Flattery said. 'That was uncharacteristic of us. Credit Washington.”

'There was some unforced errors by us throughout the game, especially when we were up,” Stark said.

Washington had its first winning streak after a victory at Davis County 63-41 Tuesday. Thirteen different Demons saw playing time in the road win, led by Cade Hennigan's 15 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Luke Turner added 11 points while Trashaun Willis went for 10 points and eight rebounds. Brock Sobaski also had eight rebounds and Ethan Hunt chipped in with eight points.

Hennigan had 15 points again Thursday with Trevor Quigley providing 10 and Turner nine.

The Demons got the first points of the second half, but didn't score again until Hennigan canned a 3-pointer to break a 30-30 tie. Fairfield went on its second 7-0 run of the third quarter to lead 37-33.

'Instead of stopping that run, we let them extend it,” Stark said. 'We were not boxing out at key moments.”

Hennigan stole an out-of-bounds pass and converted the layup to get the Demons within 37-36 by the end of the third period.

Tristin Waugh scored 7 of his game-high 17 points for Fairfield in the fourth quarter. His conventional three-point play started the final stanza for a 40-36 lead, but a Willis 3-pointer in the corner put Washington ahead 42-40.

It was tied again at 44 and 46.

'It was a great game, great atmosphere and if a few more buckets go our way with a few less turnovers, it's even better,” Stark said.

The atmosphere was helped by a vocal student section and a lively band.

Stark called timeout after a Waugh field goal gave the visitors a 48-46 edge with 50 seconds remaining.

The Demons couldn't find the shot they wanted and called time again, this time with 15 seconds left.

'We had drawn up a play for their zone and they switched it up to a man,” Stark said. 'I still thought that that would work against the man, but we did not quite get the look that we were looking for. It didn't quite go as planned.”

Fairfield got a steal with little time left and Washington fouled with less than a second left.

'Our guys were able to figure out defensively what to do,” Flattery said. 'We finally started making plays.”

Carson Crile, who scored nine points, made both Fairfield foul shots for the final score.

'So far this year we've had these games where I feel like we gave it away, but the thing is these guys want it and they want it bad,” said Stark, who is in his third year at the helm. 'It is just that we haven't been in these situations until this year. So it is a learning process for them and a learning process for me. They need to watch film. I need to watch film. We just have to learn what to do in key situations.”

'Collin's kids played really really well,” Flattery said. 'They gave us a test. We haven't had a home game yet this year. We are taking everybody's best shot playing on the road. We were just trying to get out of town the best we can.” We have to be able to find different ways to win. There's a lot of good athletes in this league and it's hard to win on the road.”

Fairfield is 9-3 overall and 6-0 in the loop. That record assures the Trojans of at least a tie for the conference title, which is the first since 2004.

'That is big,” Flattery said. 'We would prefer not to share it.”

Washington is 4-7 overall and 1-4 in the conference. The Demons play at Ottumwa Monday.

'It was a lot of fun, but it would be a lot more enjoyable if we came out on top at the end of these,” Stark said. 'It's just too bad that the difference in the game was one play. It was just one play.”

Highland 71, Danville 68

Brody Burton's 3-pointer at the buzzer was the difference in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference non-divisional game at Danville.

Burton finished with 14 points. Teammate Zack Lasek had a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Highland is 9-5 and hosts Wapello tonight.