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Washington drops first SEC clash
Demons swept by Keokuk
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The Washington girls basketball team fell just short of its first Southeast Conference win of the 2025-26 season. The Demons fought back after losing one of their top seniors, Adalyn Long, to injury in the first quarter, but suffered its first defeat of the season 49-41 at the hands of Keokuk.
Long scored six consecutive points to make it 14-11 Washington, part of a 9-0 Demons run after they started down 11-5. With under 10 seconds remaining, she took a 3-pointer from the top of the key, landed on the foot of a Keokuk defender and went down holding her right ankle.
Long did not return for Washington. Keokuk ripped the momentum back, outscoring the Demons 12-2 in the second quarter to take a seven-point lead into halftime. Out of the break, the Chiefs extended their lead to 34-20.
“In the first half even before that injury I didn’t love our defense,” Washington coach Colin Mulford said. “They were getting into the paint way too easy and that’s what we were trying to take away.”
Washington could have folded with just under 12 minutes to play. Instead, the Demons found some rhythm, and emulated Long’s flurry of points to end the first quarter with an 10-4 run that bled into the early portion of the fourth.
Addison Miller led Washington with 10 points. She scored five straight to trim the lead back to single digits in the third.
“I can see it as a player when one of your leaders goes down, it can be hard to bounce back right away,” Mulford said. “So, I was really proud with the effort and energy that we brought and just battling, A lot of girls stepping up in that second half to be a threat.”
Reagan Miller came off the bench and finished second on the Demons in scoring with eight points, including a 3 to make it a five-point game in the fourth, grabbed six rebounds, dished two assists, one steal and a block.
The Demons were unable to trim the lead any further. Keokuk, propelled by four double-digit scorers, made enough plays late, and a Washington turnover with 22 seconds to play sealed a win for the Chiefs.
Despite the defeat, and Long’s injury, Mulford said he has a good problem on his hands with the number of players capable of making an impact for Washington. Leighton Messinger scored five points and led the Demons with 10 rebounds, while Addison Miller had nine boards.
Sarah Berdo came of the bench with starting forward Vivienne Kroll in foul trouble and chipped in four points and seven rebounds. Freshman Ashlynn Long played extended minutes and had three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“Tonight a lot of girls stepped up when needed to and when asked, Mulford said. “So, always looking to see what girls are playing better. I tell the girls all the time, it’s not about who starts, it’s about who finishes. Whoever the best five that’s playing, that’s who’s going to end the game and get the majority of the minutes.”
Washington ran out of time to complete the comeback, but the Demons showed some resilience with one of their stars sidelined. Washington will have another crack at Keokuk on Jan. 16 when the Demons travel to Wright Fieldhouse.
The Keokuk boys team left far less doubt against the Demons in the second game of the night. Keokuk, which lost its season opener to Washington last year, played with the spitefulness of a team that took the defeat personally.
Keokuk ran away with Friday’s matchup, downing the Demons 78-42. Washington found itself down 46-14 at halftime after Keokuk outscored it 24-4 in the second quarter.
Washington had no answers for 6-foot-10 Keokuk senior Jaxon Clark. The reigning SEC Player of the Year looked every bit of it Friday, finishing with a game-high 28 points and 17 rebounds.
“We kind of got hit in the mouth a little bit in that first half and I think we didn’t really know how to respond,” Demons coach Colin Stark said. “There was a stretch where he did get his second foul, they took him out and we did get a little bit of life there, but it just wasn’t consistently going.”
Stark challenged his team at halftime to keep competing despite the large deficit. Like the Washington girls team, some of the best play for the boys squad came in the third quarter, when it outscored Keokuk 21-14.
The Demons saw three players finish in double figures in the loss. Rajan Roth led the way with 14 points. His hustle plays popped just as much as he co-led the Demons with five rebounds and had two steals and three blocks.
Drew Conrad ended up in double figures with 12 points and added four rebounds and three assists. Nic Stone found a rhythm in the second half and finished with 11 points, three boards, one dime and a steal.
Stark hopes to channel Washington’s consistency in the third quarter into a more complete game, especially with the Demons shot selection. Washington connected on just 29.1% of its field goals and 20% from 3.
“It’s still not where we’re capable of, and I think that is something that we can look back on that is, we are 1-1 by not shooting the best,” Stark said. “That’s where we have to make sure we’re doing what we need to do on the defensive end so that we have more opportunities of those type of games where it’s back-and-fourth, and that’s what the third quarter did for us.”
Both the Washington girls and boys teams will be back at home Tuesday to face Mediapolis. The girls game tips off at 6 p.m. with the boys game scheduled to start at 7:30. Both games will be streamed on the Southeast Iowa Live YouTube and Facebook pages.
