The Washington Demon girls’ basketball team (4-13 overall: 0-6 Southeast) will open up the postseason tournament with a regional foe out of the South Central Conference. The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) released the 2015 regional pairings for Class 4 and 5A late Monday night, and the Demons will face the Knoxville Panthers (16-1 overall; 12-0 South Central ) in the district tournament opener Wednesday Feb. 18.

The Panthers have risen to the top in their first year in the Southeast Central Conference, winning 16 of their first 17 games after finishing the 2013-14 season with a 10-13 record in the Little Hawkeye Conference. Knoxville has already clinched the conference championship with four games remaining in the regular season. A factor in their turn around has been the play of their defense, allowing 37.9 points per game this season compared to 50.6 last year. Senior forward Meredith Cunningham leads the Panthers in scoring averaging 17.2 points per game this season.

Despite winning just four games this season, two of those wins came against Southeast Conference competition. Washington opened up the season with a 53-47 victory at Eddyville-Blakesburg Rockets and defeated Oskaloosa Indians 57-45 last month. The Davis County Mustangs, tonight’s non-conference opponent for the Demons, also hails from the Southeast Central Conference.

The Panthers swept the season series with all three teams. Knoxville was victorious over Eddyville-Blakesburg by 20 points at home (47-27) and 15 points in Eddyville (54-39). The Panthers beat the Indians by 17 (54-37) in Oskaloosa, and by 13 points (48-35) in Knoxville. Finally, the Panthers defeated the Mustangs by six points in Bloomfield (56-50) and by 26 points in Knoxville (75-49).

You can hear live play-by-play coverage of Washington’s girls’ district basketball game on KCII Feburary 18th starting with the Washington Hy-Vee Pregame show at 6:30 p.m. from Knoxville High School.