Demons lose to Trojans, 60-51

Washington seniors Cale Hobscheidt and Jack Redlinger didn?t show their guests from Fairfield much hospitality Friday night in SEC play when they combined for 17 points and 15 rebounds, unfortunately for the Demons, the Trojans played the role of rude house guests and stole a 60-51 victory before heading home for the weekend.

The win was the first of the season for returning boys? basketball coach Mick Flattery, whose team now stands at 1-3 and 1-1 in the SEC.

The game itself started with a Trojan basket, but was immediately answered by Washington, a theme of the night. With 2:30 remaining in the first, the Demons hit a three to take a 10-9 lead and were echoed by a Tristin Waugh deep ball that made it 12-10. The teams traded baskets again leaving it 14-12 with 1:47 left, but senior Matthew Roder hit a three with 30.9 seconds in the opening eight minutes to give the Demons a 15-14 lead at the end of one quarter.

The second quarter saw no one hold more than a three-point advantage until Fairfield junior Carson Crile?s three with 3:45 left in the half was followed by a stop and another basket gave the Trojans a 25-19 spread.

Demons senior Dalton Myers attacked the rim and received an and-1 opportunity with 2:54 in the second, but missed the free throw, leaving the score 25-21. Less than a minute later, a bucket followed by a stop and a wide-open Hobscheidt three-pointer tied the game at 25 apiece.

The Trojans responded by feeding Waugh for a layup, before senior point guard Dante Cingire switched directions with a nasty crossover that opened the lane for him to extend the Fairfield advantage to 29-25 going into halftime.

Hobscheidt started the second half scoring with a longball that cut the deficit to 29-28, but Fairfield answered to make it 31-28 one minute into the third. The teams swapped baskets until Collin Breen put a breakaway in for a 36-31 advantage.

Austin Simpson found Crile in a crease, creeping the baseline for a free bucket and then Cingere finished a 2-1 break at the rim to make it 40-31 in favor of the visitors.

Simpson hit two free throws to start the fourth quarter scoring, extending the advantage to 50-38 and the teams traded baskets with the Demons unable to get within striking distance as the clock continued to dwindle on them.

The 60-51 final gives Fairfield a 1-3 record overall with Pella coming to Jefferson County Tuesday night for a girls?/boys? doubleheader.

Washington is at Iowa City Liberty tonight and Oskaloosa Tuesday, before returning to SEC play Friday when Keokuk visits the Demon?s den.