No. 1 Oskaloosa’s 3-pointers sink Demons

Oskaloosa High School came to town with a No. 1 ranking in boys basketball, a 7-footer and a 6-foot-10 player. While the Indians left with a victory in the nonconference game, it was not because of the height advantage. It was because of the long range shooting.

The Indians buried 12 3-pointers on the way to the 74-48 win.

While 7-foot Xavier Foster had 11 points and 6-10 Cole Henry had 18, 6-2 Noah VanVeldhuizen canned six treys (four in the first quarter) for his 18 points. Rian Yates, 6-5 height, hit four triples and finished with 16 points. Austin Hafner, 5-10, hit three more threes for his nine points.

'They were making all the threes and the thing is, it is contagious,” Washington head coach Collin Stark said. 'One guy hits one and then it's easier for the next guy to hit one. I thought we could've done a little better job of identifying where they were. But it's hard because we have to pack it in because of their height.”

The Demons were not intimidated by last year's second-place finish by the Indians and took an 11-6 lead on 2-pointers by Cade Hennigan and Luke Turner, and 3-pointers from Trashaun Willis and Trevor Quigley. Willis made 1 of 2 free throws.

'We just went about it like it was any other game,” Stark said. 'We have to go and be ready to compete with the mindset that we are going to win. As a program we have to continually prove that. When you look at their roster, they have a couple of D1 guys. That's a tough mindset but I thought our guys came in and wanted to compete.”

A missed dunk by Foster seemed to energize the visitors and they scored 10 straight points, getting a dunk from Henry. It was 18-14 for the Indians after the first quarter.

The gym was electric for the Demons' first home game this season, with the band playing and the student section on their feet for the length of the game.

Consecutive baskets by Ethan Hunt pulled the Demons within 21-20, but the visitors went on a 10-2 run and led 36-26 at halftime. 'We have a lot of guys that work hard,” Stark said. 'I was proud of them. It seemed like we were the first team to every loose ball. That is all about their hustle. The shots just were not falling for us tonight.”

It was 55-39 at the end of the third quarter.

'Washington played their rear ends off,” Oskaloosa coach Ryan Parker said. 'I thought they got to every loose ball. Our thing is, we know we are going to get everybody's best shot every night. Sometimes when you are No. 1, you take things for granted. You think you're better than you are.”

The visitors opened the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run.

When Willis fouled out on an intentional foul that he committed mid-court to prevent a breakaway dunk by Foster, the students chanted his name.

He led the Demons in scoring as the only Washington player in double figures. He finished with 16. Hennigan added eight.

Yates had six assists for Oskaloosa and Henry had 12 rebounds.

Oskaloosa was ranked for eight weeks last year so the coach said his team knows how to handle lofty expectations.

'We have a little bit of everything,” Parker said. 'We really only returned three kids from our team last year.” That team lost the Class 3A title game 66-62 to Glenwood. Yates, Henry and Foster were the key components that returned. 'We were making shots and that was a good thing, but we got to get back to playing harder and not taking things for granted.”

Willis took nothing for granted as the Demons' tallest player; he was tasked with the majority of the defense inside.

He answered the call, getting two blocks and numerous rebounds.

'I would say that this was his best game this year,” Stark said. 'He did a much better job of not pressing. In the first couple games, he was looking to make a difference a bit too much and tonight he just kind a let things go.”

Oskaloosa is 5-0 with a 42-40 home win over Fairfield in the first game of the season.

The Demons are 1-3 with two Southeast Conference games on the road, playing at Keokuk Friday and at Fort Madison Tuesday before a home game Thursday before Christmas against Albia.

'I am looking forward to this next stretch we have in the next couple weeks,” Stark said. 'We lost by two at Keokuk last year and the kids remember that, so we don't want to have that feeling again.”