Muskies sink Demons

The second half went well for the Washington girls? basketball team on Tuesday night, but a slow start left the Demons with a deep hole to climb.

In the first half, Washington was held to only two field goals and 10 total points, as the visiting Muscatine Muskies took charge, and eventually won the game 60-39.

?I thought we attacked the glass a lot better in the second half,? Washington head coach Jay Zieglowsky said. ?We penetrated and got to the free-throw line, and found the open shooters. We talked about shot selection at halftime, because we took some poor shots in the first half. We have to get better at that.?

The Muskies were aided by their Division I signee Annabel Graettinger (South Dakota State), who led the team with 18 points, which was two points below her average.

Washington?s slow start helped the Muskies jump out to a 20-5 lead after one quarter, but a defensive switch helped Washington slow Muscatine down in the second quarter, when the Demons held them to 10 points, to make it 30-10 at halftime.

?We challenged them defensively,? Zieglowsky said. ?We gave up 20 points in the first quarter, then 10 points in the second quarter. We stayed in the man-to-man, and gave them 30 more points, and that?s too many points. When there?s a Division I athlete on their team, that plays a big part too.?

The Demons got hot offensively in the third quarter, when a 10-4 run cut the deficit to 18, and another run, which spanned the late third into the early fourth quarter, brought them within 15 points.

Fouls started to catch up to the Demons late in the fourth quarter, as Muscatine closed out the game with free throws, but Zieglowsky was happy with some the team?s defensive performance.

?We had some girls working their tails off,? Zieglowsky said. ?Morgan Kimball for a half guarded Graettinger, a Division I athlete. That?s a tough assignment, and she worked her tail off. I couldn?t be more proud of her effort tonight, and we held her below her average.?

The Demons will have a couple of nights off before taking on conference opponent Fairfield at home on Friday, and the key will be to learn from their mistakes from the last time they faced the Trojans, a 48-31 road defeat.

?Fairfield is a quality team, and we just have to stay composed,? Zieglowsky said. ?They are going to put some pressure on us, and we can?t panic. If we keep our composure, we?ll be OK. They?ve got three perimeter players who can shoot 3s, and we have to identify those shooters. We did a good job of that the first time around, but we have to do a better job.?

The boys?-girls? doubleheader will start at 6 p.m. on Friday.