Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Washington boys hit their stride
Demons storm back to beat Fairfield, upset Keokuk on the road
Washington — It took a while for the Washington boys basketball team to shake off winter break, but that’s exactly what happened halfway through the Demons’ home showdown with Fairfield on Friday night.
After trailing by double digits at the break, Washington battled back to defeat Fairfield 56-38 on Friday night. The Demons followed that with a stunning 55-51 upset win at Keokuk one day later.
Washington looked shaky in the opening half. After the Demons led 14-13 at the first horn, Fairfield completely dominated the second period, scoring 25 points in the quarter to run out to a 28-16 halftime lead.
Fairfield’s Sam Weaton was on a huge run in the middle quarters. Weaton had 12 points at the break, including a buzzer-beating tip in to give the Trojans all the momentum heading into the locker rooms. He then hit two back-to-back 3-pointers to quiet a Washington run early in the third quarter.
From midway through the third period on, however, it was all Demons. Washington grabbed the lead, 34-32, at the end of the third quarter, and the Demons never looked back.
Logan McDole led Washington with 13 points, four assists and three steals in the win. The Demons were incredibly balanced, as five players had nine points or more.
“It's really great, because when we step on the floor, I don't even know who I'm passing it to half the time,” McDole said. “I just know, 'they're going to make this.'”
Roman Roth scored 11 points on the night. Drew Conrad, Rajan Roth and Nic Stone all scored nine, with Stone’s points being a trifecta of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Kael Williams ended the night with five points and seven rebounds.
“They shoot a lot of threes,” said Fairfield head coach Nate Perkins about the Demons. “We know it, and we called time out, but then we continued to not close out on shooters. We're still unable to close out games.”
Weaton led Fairfield with 18 points. Riley Perkins and Ethan Bisgard scored five points each. Ben Boatright had four points, and the trio of Luke Konczal, Cooper Polonsky and Eli Zillman each had two.
One night later in Keokuk, Washington used a 31-15 first half advantage to hold off the at-the-time first place Chiefs 55-51. McDole led the team with 19 points, including four 3-pointers, and Rajan Roth had 11 points and five rebounds.
The wins now have Washington right back in the SEC race. The Demons are 6-6 overall and 4-3 in conference play, two games behind Mt. Pleasant (5-1) with Keokuk (4-2) and Fort Madison (3-2) sandwiched in between. Fairfield sits sixth, at 1-11 overall and 0-6 in league play.
