Washington boys hold off IMS

After a month of the season was done, the Washington basketball team was looking for more consistency.

In the Demons? first game back from break, they hope that?s what they?ve found.

The offense was rolling for Washington on Saturday, when they handed Iowa Mennonite a 68-55 loss.

The win improves Washington to 3-5 on the season, while Class 1A IMS falls to 6-2 on the season.

?It feels great,? said Washington senior Jack Giardino, who scored 10 points in the game. ?The first half of the year we struggled and to come back on a high note, that?s great.?

Giardino was one of four Demons who notched double-digit points, led by senior Derek Anding?s 28. Dalton Myers finished the game with 11 points, while Bryce Sinn notched 10 points.

Sinn also had a team-high nine rebounds in the contest to help Washington claim the victory.

?It?s all about a team effort,? Giardino said. ?One person can?t do it all, and it was a great team effort. We can compete with anyone. We had a couple guys in foul trouble, but with four guys in double figures, that helps. If we keep that up, we can compete with anybody.?

IMS was led by junior guard Nick Yutzy?s 17 points, while senior Eli Gingerich notched 16 points, seven assists and five steals to help IMS, but it wasn?t enough, as they fell to the Demons.

?We just didn?t going defensively,? IMS head coach Dwight Gingerich said. ?We were lethargic and tentative. All of those things added up made for a rough first 2 1/2 quarters.?

IMS held Washington tight early on, taking a 9-8 lead midway through the first quarter, but the Demons responded with a 15-2 run that spanned into the second quarter to take a 23-11 lead.

Washington continued its second-quarter dominance, outscoring IMS 26-8 in the quarter to take a 39-19 halftime lead.

?In the second quarter, I thought (Washington?s) rebounding went down a path that wasn?t good for us,? Gingerich said. ?They dominated us on the boards. Their big bodies pushed us forward even when we did block out. It?s difficult to have confidence when you can?t rebound. Combine that with our turnovers and unfortunately we didn?t have a good rhythm.?

Washington head coach Bryce Smeins credited a strong defensive effort which helped push the Demon offense.

?We don?t keep a deflection chart, but I want to look at the first half (again) because I think we had a dozen, 15 deflections,? Smeins said. ?We were active on defense and that got our transition defense going. That?s when we are at our best, when we can get out and run.?

In the second half, after Washington built a 55-23 lead, IMS started to find a groove, and started to sneak back into the game.

A 21-3 run that ran into the fourth quarter helped IMS close the gap to 14 points, with IMS pulling within 10 points on two occasions.

It wasn?t enough for IMS, however, as they couldn?t get the deficit to single digits.

?I?m happy with how we stayed after it,? Gingerich said. ?We gained some confidence as the game went on, and we saw some good things from guys who came off the bench.?

Smeins said his team played well, but when it came down to the end, he wantss to see a little bit of a change out of the Demons moving forward.

?We play so fast sometimes, and there are times in games where we need to slow down and burn a little clock,? Smeins said. ?We weren?t interested in doing that. Our kids play better when we play fast. When you have a big lead, you need to have a little more control.?

Washington will return to conference action on Tuesday night when it hosts Fort Madison in a conference doubleheader, with tipoff scheduled for 7:45 p.m.

IMS will face a tough test on Tuesday, when one-loss Lone Tree comes to Kalona for a 7:30 p.m. game.