Late game troubles haunt Washington

WASHINGTON - Possessions are more valuable late in a basketball game, but Washington's boys are still learning what Albia's eight seniors already know. The Blue Demons stepped up their defense to take a 64-59 overtime win in a nonconference battle Tuesday.

It was Albia's first action since Dec. 8 and the Blue Demons were ready for it. Washington had just played the previous night, a loss to Burlington when leading late.

'This one hurts,” Washington head coach Collin Stark said. 'It felt like we just gave that one away.”

Ethan Patterson's 3-pointer with a second left in the first quarter gave Washington a 15-12 lead. Patterson finished with 21 points. Lucas Kroll chased down an errant rebound and hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer for a 28-26 Washington advantage. Kroll had 13 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

It was 39-39 at the end of three periods and 55-55 at the end of four.

Washington led 51-42 with 5 minutes, 20 seconds left in regulation after Kasen Bailey's 3-pointer. Bailey had picked up his fourth foul with 6:02 to go in the third and eventually fouled out. He finished with as many points as fouls and had three assists. Trashaun Willis fouled out with six points and three blocked shots. Leading Burlington 54-49, the Demons were outscored 17-6 at the end of the 66-60 loss.

Washington turned the ball over to start the overtime then Albia's Drew Chance scored. A missed Washington shot and Albia took the air out of the ball with an offense that wasn't a stall, but more of a look-for-an-opening type. Albia sank 7-of-10 free throws as Washington had to foul after missing shots.

'We have to close out the game,” Stark said. 'When we have a lead we have to make the plays to finish the game and it's a fault collectively of players and coaches. We have to do better at making sure we are prepared for these situations.”

Albia was prepared even though it had not played for a month.

'We have a bunch of experience,” Albia head coach Kevin Archer said. 'We talked about how to fight through screens we were getting stuck on and the last 5 minutes that didn't happen.”

Chance had 10 first-half points and 17 in the second half for the Blue Demons. Albia got its hands on numerous passes in the fourth quarter. Washington had 23 turnovers in the game.

'We will have to keep working on fundamentals,” Stark said. 'Just hammer on those fundamentals.”

Lance Sobaski had nine rebounds, six points, three assists and two blocked shots. Washington teammate Zac Stout had two blocked shots and three assists. Trevor Leyden scored five points.

Albia is 4-1 with its only loss to Grand View Christian. Washington falls to 5-3 and hosts Fairfield Friday.