Washington boys? basketball team handed loss by Oskaloosa

The Washington boys basketball team was host to the 10th-ranked Oskaloosa Indians Tuesday, Dec. 13, and were handed a loss by their guests with the final score of 55-90.

Oskaloosa would dominate the floor in the first quarter scoring 23 points and holding the Demons back allowing eight.

Washington would work on recovering in the second quarter by scoring 21 points, but Oskaloosa would answer back scoring 22 to keep the game in their favor, putting the score at 29-45 at the half.

One of the downfalls for Washington was the number of fouls committed in the first half. Coach Collin Stark said of the high number, ?we need to play with intensity, but we need to make sure we keep our hands off and not put our opponents at the free-throw line as many times as we did.

?That made a difference in the game, giving them free points. We?ve been trying to work on that this year and not foul too much.?

The Indians kept control of the court in the third quarter, putting up another 20 points even though they allowed Washington to score 15 to make the score 44-65 going into the final frame.

The Demons would try and rally in the fourth, but Oskaloosa would make sure they continued their scoring by only giving up 11 points while adding another 25 to their side of the scoreboard to get the win.

One of the challenges in the game for Washington, was the height of the Oskaloosa players. Stark says that did make it hard for the team.

?That?s something we won?t see much of this year. We are small because we have four decent-size guys and we are probably going to be bigger than a lot of teams, but it?s where against Osky, it?s a totally different type of team where their height affected us inside and when we are on defense. Even if we are standing straight up, they can shoot right over the top of us. That makes it difficult.?

One thing helpful and encouraging in the game is when a player scores numerous points such as Jaivonn Willis leading the team with 21. ?Not only did Willis have a great game in scoring, but others did as well,? Stark says.

?We like to see that kind of individual play, but at the same time, we?re also looking for that team balance throughout that.?

Between now and Friday there is one thing the team is going to work on ? defense. ?When you give up 90 points you?re not going to win many games,? Stark says.

?That?s where defensively we need to get stops. If someone scores on you, you have to take it personally that you have to pick it up a little bit.

?Offensively where we score over 50, you will win games if you play well on the defensive side. We haven?t had a practice for a while because of playing many games, so we will get in two practices to work on improving that.?

Both the boys and girls will play at Keokuk Friday, Dec. 16. The girls? game starts at 6:15 p.m. followed by the boys? game.