Washington boys pull out victory on court in Wellman

?It was an up-and-down game,? said Washington boys coach Collin Stark when talking about their contest with Mid-Prairie which kept fans on the edges of their seats the entire time.

Mid-Prairie started off with a 3-pointer, but Washington followed by scoring five points to take the early lead.

Both teams would battle it out on the court the remainder of the first quarter with the Demons having a nine-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

Points would continue to add up for both teams in the second quarter as Mid-Prairie would try and close the gap, but would only do so by one point heading into the break with Washington ahead 40-32.

The Golden Hawks would come out strong after halftime in the third quarter by scoring 22 points in the third and holding Washington back to only 15, putting the game within one point heading into the fourth quarter.

Washington played strong on the floor as did Mid-Prairie the entire last frame. The lead would change hands for most of the remaining time until a 3-point shot from Washington put them in the lead in the remaining couple of minutes.

Mid-Prairie struggled to score, but would end the bout with a loss as Washington came out on top 78-73.

Recalling the action afterward Stark said, ?As a player these are the types of games you like to play. As a coach, I would rather have a defensive slugfest instead of going up and down, hitting 3s, going for shots that maybe we shouldn?t have but were lucky they went in. Our guys plays so hard.

?When is really mattered in the fourth quarter, we started to really dig down and play some really good defense. We made it harder for Mid-Prairie even though they still got in some shots. I?m happy for the win. It?s a great win for the program.?

All of the players did well in the game, Stark noted. ?Bryce Sinn has been struggling lately with scoring, but today he got out of it. For him, I?m so happy he?s out of that slump.

?Tanner Coleman and Mason Rich both shot the ball well. Dalton Myers made some great plays of splitting the Mid-Prairie defense. It was a great team effort.?

The boys play at Mt. Pleasant Friday and having the win on the road will help the team move forward as they play another road game, Stark said. ?The next couple of days we are going to take it easy. We actually have practices, which is different. We?ve had five-straight games and now we have some practice time to prepare for them. I think that will help.?

Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, in Mt. Pleasant.