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Washington Evening Journal
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Demons sweep Panthers
Washington boys and girls basketball teams improve to 2-1 in SEC play
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Washington completed a sweep of Southeast Conference rival Mt. Pleasant on Friday. The Demons girls basketball team rolled to a 44-22 victory, while the boys team battled in a game of runs and held on for a 55-47 win.
The Washington boys team went on a 16-0 run after Mt. Pleasant took a 34-26 lead with 5:50 left in the third quarter. Rajan Roth knocked down two free throws to make it 38-34 in the final seconds of the third.
The Demons run continued into the fourth. It reached 42 points before Mt. Pleasant’s Isaiah Lange converted an and-1 layup to make it 42-37 after the free throw.
The Demons went up by as many as 12 points in the final period. But even that lead was threatened as the Panthers found one last push.
Down 10 with one minute to play, MP’s Aiden Humble was fouled shooting a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions. Washington’s Drew Conrad split a pair of free throws in between the trips, but Humble made all six freebies to trim Washington’s lead to five with 36 seconds to play.
Humble tried the same move on MP’s next possession after Conrad went 1 of 2 again. But Humble didn’t get the call a third time, and Conrad sunk two more to seal the Demons win.
Conrad Washington in scoring with 22 points. Roth also finished in double figures with 14.
Lange was a presence for the Panthers all game and led the way with 15 points. Humble finished with 12 after his late surge at the free throw line.
There would be no comeback for the MP girls team in the first game of the night. The Panthers went down 12-2 after one quarter of play and were outscored 26-16 in the second half.
The Demons played excellent halfcourt defense all game, and mixed in a full court press to keep the Panthers off balance. Mt. Pleasant managed to limit Washington’s offense in the second quarter, but only scored four points itself and trailed 18-6 at halftime.
MP could only decrease the deficit to 11 points in the third. With Washington up 24-13, it went on a 9-1 run to close the quarter. Four different players scored during the run, including Leighton Messinger, who buried a 3 from the right corner, one of two triples on the night.
Messinger led the Demons with 14 points in the win. Adalyn Long finished one point away from double figures with nine. Oaklee Sobaski and Vivienne Kroll each scored six.
Abigail Shelangoski led Mt. Pleasant in scoring with six points. Fellow starters Kynlee White and Myah Starr each scored four.
The Panthers and Demons will have a break before returning to action after the new year. Both the Washington girls and boys teams will next take on Ft. Madison on Jan. 2 away from home.
Mt. Pleasant will also start the new year against SEC competition. The Panthers boys and girls teams will face Keokuk at home Jan. 2.
