The Demon basketball team is moving on to the regional finals after they beat Keokuk Saturday night 59-52.

In a basketball game that played out more like a football game the Washington Demons came out with guns blazing and never trailed in the entire game.

In the first quarter the Demons and Chiefs looked pretty even, although Washington gave up a lot of fouls in the first to put Keokuk in the bonus early in the first half. Washington led 13- 7 after one.

In the second quarter, the Demons started to pull away despite not getting anything offensively from top scorers Lauren Kimball and Stephanie Fishback, and the three point shot not landing.

At the half it was 26-20 Demons with the top two scores for Washington scoreless and the top two scorers for Keokuk Rachel Dunlap and Lakyn Boltz with a combined two points courtesy of Dunlap.

JoHannah Vittetoe talked after the game about how she plays tough defense on girls bigger than her like Dunlap.

“My mindset is mainly, Dunlap is my responsibility so there for she may have had a lot of points tonight [22 points 14 points FG’s] but I know they weren’t easy points that she got,” Vittetoe said.

The third quarter is where it got scary for the Demons as they went scoreless in the third quarter for half of the quarter and the Chiefs tied the game but couldn’t grab the lead. Washington then went on a 8-0 run to retake the lead and lead by as many as 10, before Keokuk once again rallied back and got within three, but despite the runs, Washington led 37-30 after three.

In the fourth both teams elected to foul, shooting a combined 31 free throws in the fourth quarter, but no one shot a better percentage than Washington’s Kimball who went 10-10 from the free throw line in the fourth. Kimball spoke after the game about how she focused to go 10-10.

“I do them in practice and everything and I come in and work on them with my dad and he reminds me to take a deep breath, slow down, and I took a deep breath, slowed down and they went in,” Kimball said.

The Demons move on to the regional final against Cedar Rapids Xavier who won 50-27 over Solon, holding the Spartans scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Demon head coach Phil Long said his team will have to practice on Sunday, which he doesn’t like doing much.

“I’m kind of a Christian fella, and I don’t care to be practicing on Sunday, but good Lord allows it during tournament time and so does the school so we’re thankful to be able to practice on Sunday afternoon,” Long said.

Washington and Xavier and scheduled to play at Cedar Rapids Kennedy on Tuesday. Check KCIIradio.com for any location changes of this game.