SEC Friday: Washington battles Burlington once more

It’s Friday in Southeast Iowa, and the Southeast Conference races are coming right down to the last handful of games left on the schedule.

This week, Fairfield and Fort Madison meet in a special Thursday doubleheader on the Trojans’ home court. Washington and Burlington play a home-and-home on Friday, as do Mt. Pleasant and Keokuk.

Note, that at press time, the Fairfield and Fort Madison basketball games have yet to begin.

The big game in boys basketball this week will be happening at Washington High School. The second-ranked (3A) Demons are 6-1 in conference play, and they will face off with Burlington (5-1) for the second time this season.

The Demons scored a comeback victory over Burlington the last time the two teams met. Ethan Patterson and Kasen Bailey combined for 40 points, and Burlington’s Amarion Davis went for 30 on his own during the Demons’ 75-69 victory.

The winner of the game will slide into second place alone, or in Washington’s case, potentially first if No. 1 (3A) Fort Madison (6-0) falls at Fairfield (1-6) on Thursday.

If the Bloodhounds knock off the Trojans on Thursday night, they will be one game up in the loss column going into the final three games of SEC play. Those won’t be easy though, as Fort Madison still has to play Burlington twice and come to Washington on Feb. 4.

Mt. Pleasant (2-5) will try to stay in fourth place along by finishing out a season sweep of Keokuk (0-7) on the road on Friday. Mt. Pleasant dominated the first game, 49-32, behind a 20-point, 11-rebound outing for Dewon Trent and a 16-point outing by Payton Hagans.

Fairfield’s Max Weaton still leads the conference in scoring, with 20.7 points per game heading into Thursday night. Washington’s Patterson (18.1 ppg) and Bailey (16.6 ppg) are third and fourth respectively.

Weaton is also second in the league with 10.8 rebounds per game. Bailey is second in assist per game, with 4.0 a contest.

The Keokuk girls are 8-0 in league play, just two games away from finishing an undefeated SEC schedule.

Standing in there way? One game apiece against Mt. Pleasant (3-4) and Fairfield (6-1). The former of those will be played Friday night as the Chiefs visit the Panthers.

Mt. Pleasant struggled with the first game against Keokuk. The Panther girls didn’t win a quarter in a 73-40 loss. Andrea Lopreato scored 18 points in that game, but Keokuk’s Abby Wolter put up 25.

Keokuk, currently ranked No. 12 in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Class 4A poll, has been Mt. Pleasant’s nemesis on the girls basketball court. The Chiefs have won the last 10 matchups in the series.

Fairfield takes a 6-1 conference record into Thursday night’s doubleheader against Fort Madison, who sits 3-3 as of Thursday evening. A Trojan loss and Chief win locks up the conference for Keokuk.

Washington (1-7) will look for a season sweep of Keokuk (8-0) on the road. The Demons cruised past the Grayhounds last month with a 49-30 home victory.

Washington soaked Burlington with a balanced offensive attack in their first meeting. Kaylin Long and Lauren Hinrichsen co-led the Demons with nine points apiece.

Below are the current SEC basketball standings. In the online version, the standings will be updated to reflect Fairfield’s results on Thursday.

SEC BOYS BASKETBALL STANDINGS

TEAM CONFERENCE OVERALL

1. Fort Madison 7-0, 14-0

2. Washington 6-1, 13-2

3. Burlington 5-1, 10-6

4. Mt. Pleasant 2-5, 5-9

5. Fairfield 1-7, 4-10

6. Keokuk 0-7, 3-10

SEC GIRLS BASKETBALL STANDINGS

TEAM CONFERENCE OVERALL

1. Keokuk 8-0, 12-3

2. Fairfield 6-2, 9-6

3. Fort Madison 4-3, 9-3

4. Mt. Pleasant 3-4, 8-8

5. Washington 1-7, 2-13

6. Burlington 0-6, 0-15