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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington girls basketball falls to No. 11 Mepo
Demons drop ranked matchup
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Washington girls basketball hung tough with a No. 11 Mediapolis side that was fresh off a ranked win over No. 12 Tipton heading into Tuesday’s contest. The Demons matched the Bulldogs for three-and-a-half quarters, but a late 3-point barrage saw Mediapolis pull away for a 49-30 victory.
Mediapolis entered the game shooting 40.6% from 3-point range in its first two contests, the best mark among Class 3A teams over the still young 2025-26 season.
The Bulldogs only shot 33.3% from deep Tuesday night, but hit five 3s in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Demons.
“Those last few minutes, I put that on me,” Washington coach Colin Mulford said. “I told them we needed to press, but we really didn’t need to at that moment. We could’ve waited a little longer and that’s just where they were getting wide-open looks and knocked them down.”
Washington keyed in on reigning Southeast Iowa Super Conference Player of the Year Josie Hutcheson, and limited her to just four points. But Bulldogs found other scoring avenues in Ellah Wagenbach and Grace Holsteen.
The pair made all of 11 of Mepo’s shots beyond the arc. Wagenbach hit seven 3s and led all scorers with 23 points, while Holsteen finished with 12.
The next highest scorer for Mediapolis was Amelia Grier, who finished with just seven points on 2 of 14 from the field. Washington also held Mediapolis’ bench scoreless.
Washington only scored in double figures in the first quarter, but only found itself down 21-17 at halftime. Early on, the Demons paired solid defense against the threat of Mediapolis’ shooting, with enough scoring against the Bulldogs’ full court pressure.
The Bulldogs kept Washington under duress on defense in the second half. Mediapolis totaled 14 steals and forced six Washington turnovers in the fourth quarter.
Mulford said Mediapolis’ pressing after misses can be particularly tricky to deal with. While it paved the way to a win for the Bulldogs on Tuesday, it also gave Washington a strong early-season situation to learn how to navigate intense full court defense moving forward.
“Obviously, we didn’t do a perfect job, there’s always going to be room for that improvement,” Mulford said. “But compared to the pressure we’ve seen before, I feel like our girls handled that really well.”
Washington was bolstered by the return of Adalyn Long. The senior suffered an ankle injury in the Demons last matchup against Keokuk, but returned to the starting lineup and finished with four points, two rebounds, one assist and a steal playing in slightly more limited action.
The injury bug would strike Washington again, however. Senior Oaklee Sobaski left the game after picking up a knock in the third quarter. Sobaski had a season high 10 points, and the Demons were forced to fill the void of one of their standout players for a second straight game.
Sobaski led the Demons in scoring despite her injury. Addison Miller finished with eight points, four rebounds and a steal. Reagan Miller chipped in four points, two rebounds and a steal off the bench.
“I was really happy to see how our girls competed even if we weren’t at full strength with just a couple of nagging injuries that have happened,” Mulford said. “But we’re early on in the year, so it shows us what level we can compete at. So I just hope the girls realize just how good we can be this year.”
Washington (2-2, 0-1 Southeast Conference) will hit the road for its next contest. The Demons have the opportunity to get their first win in SEC play when they face Fairfield on Friday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Fairfield High School. The Trojans are 1-4 and 0-1 in SEC play this season.
