Midseason girls? hoops report

With the midseason winter sports break upon us, and the holiday season in full swing, it?s time for reflecting on what has occurred so far up to this point in the year.

Today, the focus will be on the girls? basketball season for the area teams, while Tuesday will feature boys? basketball and Wednesday will be devoted to wrestling.

On Thursday, the sports section will have the Top 10 stories of the past calendar year. Any and all suggestions are welcome by e-mailing the sports department (sports@washjrnl.com), or by calling in (319-653-2191). Your feedback is greatly encouraged.

Starting with the hometown team, it?s been an up-and-down year for the Washington girls? basketball team this season.

After taking a season-opening win over Eddyville-Blakesburg, the Demons lost their next three and five of their next six to enter the winter break.

Despite being 2-5, the Demons should enter the break in high spirits, as they?ve been through one of the tougher schedules in the area.

Among the losses are a 21-point loss to No. 5 ranked Marion, a 17-point loss to No. 7 ranked Keokuk and a 14-point loss to No. 8 ranked Fairfield.

Another loss came in a game that could have fallen either way on the road, in a four-point loss to Solon.

Washington head coach Jordan Bentley said the key over the offseason break will be getting the team to believe in themselves. If they do that, they can turn the tables on the season.

?We let one or two games get away from us that were winnable games,? Bentley said. ?We?ve played four ranked teams in this first part of the season, and coming out of break we have to understand we can push ourselves to a .500 record. We just need to believe that we are better than what our record shows. The coaches believe it, we just need them to.?

Leading the charge for Washington offensively this year has been a pair of Demons, led by senior Addie Pacha?s 9.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while sophomore Sarah Nacos is averaging 9.5 points per game.

Senior Morgan Kimball has had a strong year for the Demons, averaging 7.2 points per game to go with a team-high 1.8 assists per game.

One of the biggest contributors for the Demons has come from senior Brynna DeLong, who is currently averaging 6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game so far this season, after averaging 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in 2014-15.

While the Demons have averaged a total of 9.5 assists per game with six different Demons averaging more than one assist per game, they will need to cut down on turnovers to be successful in the second part of the season.

Washington is currently averaging 24.8 turnovers per game.

The Demons will get back to the court early in 2016, hosting Burlington on Saturday, Jan. 2, at 4 p.m.

Arguably one of the top teams in the area this season has been just northeast of Washington, at Highland.

The Huskies have used their fast style of play to jump out to a quick start, standing at 8-1 at the break.

Their lone loss came at home to No. 3 ranked Pekin, on a night where the Huskies shot 20 percent from the field.

The Huskies rebounded from the loss to go on a four-game winning streak, which included defeating Mediapolis on the road by 14 points.

?We were hoping we would be in this position,? Highland head coach Jody Fink said. ?The way our games have gone, with blowouts, I didn?t expect that by any means. I expected to be in this position record-wise, or better, and we have been able to get there. It?s opened some eyes for people. Our girls are playing as a team.?

The team is led by junior Kelsey Hora, who has notched 18.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, followed by senior Cheyanne Adamon?s 15.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

One of the big surprises for the Huskies comes from freshman Aly Stokes, who is currently averaging a double-double with 10.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.

Hora is leading the team in steals (4.3) and assists (4.4) per game, while Adamson is averaging 4.2 assists and junior Amy Schnoebelen has 3.9 assists per game.

Highland will open the 2016 portion of the schedule at WACO on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

Another team that has raised some eyebrows this season is the Columbus girls? basketball team.

The Wildcats enter the break at 4-4, but their losses have come to some of the better teams in the area, including an 11-point loss to Highland that was closer than the score suggests.

The Wildcats also have a four-point loss to Lone Tree and a loss to Pekin on its schedule so far.

Columbus suffered a tough loss on the court in its Dec. 17 game against West Liberty, losing senior Laura Mincks for the season with a leg injury.

Mincks averaged five points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

The scoring has primarily come from a pair of Wildcat juniors, Bailey Stroud and Shania Boyd.

The two juniors account for 61 percent of the team?s shot attempts, and Boyd leads the team with 16.6 points per game, while Stroud has 16 points per game.

Stroud averages nearly four steals and assists per game for the Wildcats, and will be a key part of the Wildcats? future success.

?We need to go get better,? Columbus head coach Kasey Keltner said. ?Christmas break is extremely important for us to minimize the mistakes we make on the defensive and offensive end. We start off with a great opponent (Mediapolis) coming out of break and that?s what we want. We are people that want to compete with everyone.?

Columbus? 2016-opening game against Mediapolis will be at home on Jan. 5.