Demons lose first SEC game, rebound with win

The Washington Demons boys basketball team lost its first Southeast Conference game of the season Monday, falling 59-57 at Keokuk, but rebounded with a nonconference home win Tuesday in Washington, racing past the visitors from Davis County 61-44.

'The Keokuk game was a great high school game, but we just didn't quite make enough plays to win,” Washington head coach Collin Stark said.

The game with the Chiefs was a battle between the top two teams in the league. The Demons came into the night 4-0 in the conference while Keokuk was 3-1. The contest featured a lot of lead changes and Keokuk runs that were countered with Demon runs.

The score was 11-9 Washington after 1st quarter, 25-24 Keokuk at halftime and 40-38 Keokuk after the third quarter.

Kasen Bailey had 18 points with two 2-pointers, three 3-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws. Demon teammate Ethan Patterson tallied 13 points while Luke Turner added nine, Brock Sobaski seven, Trevor Quigler six and Trashaun Willis four.

Anthony Potratz led Keokuk with 16 points.

'We were down eight points with about 2 minutes to play,” Stark said. 'We decided to start fouling certain guys that we felt might either miss free throws or make 1-of-2. Our team did a great job down the stretch to execute on the offensive end. We gave ourselves a chance to win it in the end.”

The strategy gave Demons the ball at the end of the game with no timeouts left, but a chance to tie or win. 'We set up a double high screen with our shooter, Ethan Patterson, as the second screen,” Stark said. 'We were trying to attack the basket with Kasen and had Brock roll to the front of the rim. Keokuk took those options away, which left our shooter open for a 3-pointer at the top of the key. Ethan just left it a little short, but got the offensive rebound and we had another look from Luke Turner, but it just didn't fall.”

The loss left the two teams at 4-1 in the SEC. Keokuk is 10-2 and on a 10-game winning streak. Its lone league loss was at home by two points to Burlington in the first game of the year. Washington is 8-3 and lays at Mt. Pleasant Friday.

Tuesday's home win was a runaway from the beginning with the Demons taking a 26-7 lead after the first quarter.

'We came out ready to play and were shooting the ball extremely well,” Stark said. 'We made eight threes in the first half, which lead to a 41-18 lead at half. We didn't have quite the intensity in the second half as the first half, but we still ended up winning by 17 points.”

The Demons had more than double the visitors' points after the third quarter, leading 55-27.

Patterson led the way with 15 while Willis and Bailey notched 12 each. Turner added seven.

'Our defensive pressure was key in the first half as they had trouble with our traps in the backcourt,” Stark said. 'Our guys turned their turnovers into points consistently to take control of the game very early.”