The Washington basketball teams return to conference action tonight, when they travel down to Fairfield to face the Trojans for the second time.

The girls’ game will be interesting, as Fairfield upset Mt. Pleasant last week and Washington made pretty easy work of Fairfield the first time through at Washington.

The Demons need the win to stay game-for-game with the Panthers in the conference race. Washington is scoring 53.8 points per game, but their shooting is dwindling, making just 33 percent from the field and 22 percent from downtown. Washington relies heavily on getting to the line to shoot free throws with a 57.5 percent shot from the charity stripe. The Demons are led by Grace Redlinger with 13.4 points per game, Dema Giardino with 10.2 and Stephanie Fishback with 8.8.

Fairfield is 8-6 this season, and hasn’t played since last week, but it was a big win. The Trojans are almost a replica of the Demons, in that their shooting is not great on paper, but they go to the line a lot and shoot well from there. Sami Fritz has the top spot in scoring with 9.3 points per game, Hanna Greiner and Marisa Repp are right behind her with over seven points per game, and Mackenzie Flattery helps with 6.9.

The boys’ game will be about redemption for Fairfield, and getting back into the conference race for Washington. The Demons dropped their last game in the conference, but have won a couple of big games since and beat Fairfield in their last meeting. Washington is scoring 52 points per game and is led by Gage Redlinger with 10.5 points per game. Washington’s scoring can come from anyone at any given time, but at the same time everyone can go cold as well.

Fairfield is an even .500, losing their last two. The Trojans are putting up 56.4 points per game, and shooting 42.5 percent from the field. Federico Ferretti is their top scorer with 15.4 points per game, after that it drops off to Matt Carr at 10.1 points per game.

Tonight’s game is at Fairfield with tip-off at 6:15, and you can hear all of the action right here on AM and FM KCII and KCIIradio.com under radio plus with pregame of the girls at 5:45 and tip-off at 6:15, with the boys to follow. The one to count on for today’s local sports coverage is AM and FM KCII and KCIIradio.com.