Second-quarter run dooms Demon girls

FAIRFIELD ?  Washington?s girls? basketball team rallied in the second quarter to pull even with No. 9 Fairfield on Friday night, but the Trojans pulled off a 17-0 run to stun the Demons with a 41-24 halftime lead before eventually winning the game 73-53.

McKayla Miller led Washington with 16 points in the contest. Sarah Nacos and Brynna DeLong each scored 11 points in the loss and Amber Salow collected nine points. Addie Pacha, the team?s leading scorer coming into the game, was held to only four points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field.

Washington struggled to start the game, as Fairfield got the first basket of the evening from Nicole Buch. The Trojans then got a quick steal, a basket from Sami Fritz and another steal and bucket from Buch to make it 6-0 less than 40 seconds into the game.

The Demons got their first points from Miller after a timeout, then the senior converted a 3-point play to make it 8-5 Fairfield. A 3-pointer from Nacos brought the Demons within one, but the Trojans rattled off six straight points to make it 17-8. DeLong and Nacos hit back-to-back baskets to pull the team closer and another inside basket from Delong ended the first quarter with Washington trailing 23-14.

At that point, the Demons had had enough of Fairfield?s antics. Miller drew a foul while shooting to start the second and sunk both free throws. She followed it with another basket and Washington called timeout to regroup and plan an attack on a stalwart Trojan defense.

DeLong converted a 3-point play to make it 23-21 Fairfield and after a Molly Ryan free throw, Salow drained a three-pointer to tie it up at 24. From that point on, Fairfield completely took over the game and kept the pedal to the floor, cruising to the victory.

Washington did capitalize on some Fairfield foul trouble in the third quarter, making eight consecutive free throws to pull within 17 points. The Demons were 16-of-22 from the foul line, with Miller leading the way at 8-10 overall.

?Coach Bentley did a great job tonight,? said Fairfield head coach Mick Flattery. ?He had his kids ready to go. They ran some nice stuff tonight and they got that lead down to 24-23 before we went on that run before halftime. We got our deflections and steals and harassed them defensively all the time.?

With the loss, Washington falls to 6-8 on the season and will host Class 3A No. 14 Central Lee Tuesday. The Demons follow that game with a three-game road trip to Keokuk on Friday, Davis County on Feb. 2 and Fort Madison on Feb. 5.