Washington ends up 4 minutes short of complete game

It is many a coach's lamentation.

They want a complete game. They want four quarters of all-out effort. They want to see top-level play all the way to the end.

The Washington High School girls basketball team led early and often Thursday in a Southeast Conference game against the visitors from Fairfield. They did not have the lead when it was over, losing 44-38.

The Demons led 33-32 through almost 28 minutes of play.

'Unfortunately, it is a 32-minute game,” Washington coach Shannon Rugg said. 'I think for 3 1/2 quarters, we were the better basketball team. The thing of that is, you have to play four quarters, and not 3 1/2.”

Neither team seemed as if they were ready to play in the first quarter of the game that was scheduled for Friday and changed to Thursday because of approaching weather.

There were just two successful field goals in the first quarter. Fairfield's Shay Drish made a field goal for a 2-0 lead. The next field goal was a 3-pointer by Washington's Kellie Dallmeyer as the buzzer sounded to end the opening period of play. In between, Drish was 1 of 3 on free throws while Kira Ropp and Phelan Hostetler combined to go 4 of 6 at the foul line for the Demons, so it was a 7-3 advantage for Washington starting the second quarter.

Washington's second field goal came after more free throws and the Halle Leyden bucket gave the Demons a 13-11 lead. An Olivia Pacha offensive rebound and putback was followed by Isabel Bailey's third and fourth free throws and Washington led 17-13 at halftime.

'I don't feel we played our best basketball,” Fairfield coach Brian Witzenburg said. 'Some of that is because of Washington. They did a lot of good things. They did exactly what I would've done against us and that is play man-to-man.”

Drish scored first in the second half. Washington answered with Kira Ropp's basket, Bailey's 3-pointer and a Haylee Wilson steal and layup for a 24-18 lead. Bailey scored again for a 28-22 lead but was whistled her fourth foul with 1 minute, 28 seconds left in the third quarter.

When Fairfield's Jillian Dunlap connected on a 3-pointer, the Demons trailed 29-28 to end the third stanza.

'Jill Dunlap had a big three for us,” Witzenburg said. 'She has a lot of ties to Washington. Her grandfather was the athletic director here. That's always great for a kid to be able to do that in front of family.”

Hostetler, Wilson and Leyden each made 1 of 2 free throws and Wilson made a field goal sandwiched around a Drish 3-pointer. That gave Washington the 33-32 lead.

'Then when we had some good looks and got a good shot, the ball would go halfway down and pop back out,” Rugg said.

The Demons would score just two points on Leyden free throws until Duwa hit a 3-pointer with seconds left in the game.

'We turned it over a couple times there when it counted,” Rugg said. 'They forced us into some bad passes. They knocked a couple threes down.”

Fairfield scored nine in a row during the latter half of the fourth quarter, six from two 3-pointers by Destiny Gridley.

'I would rather have a close game than 15- to 20-point wins,” Witzenburg said. 'That way you see what kind of composure your team has.”

'We have to believe that we can win,” Rugg said. 'Right now, Fairfield knows how to win close games, and we are still getting there.”

Rugg called three timeouts late, the first with 2 minutes, 39 seconds remaining and another with 2:08. In those timeouts, he repeatedly told his team they were going to win.

'We put ourselves in position to do that,” he said. 'It is a mental thing. They just have to believe it. The more times they hear it, the better and then they will believe it. It has to rub off on them.”

Fairfield improves to 9-5 overall, 5-1 in the league.

'They made some shots and we didn't,” Rugg said. 'That's basketball.”

Washington falls to 6-8, 1-4. The Demons play at Ottumwa Monday.

Pekin 63, Iowa Mennonite School 47

In this Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division game in Kalona, Suzanna Yoder led IMS with 29 points, five steals, three assists, and six rebounds. She went 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.

Yani Gutierrez-Larios added 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.