Christmas came early for the Washington boys’ basketball team on Thursday night when they closed out the first half of the season with a road win over Marion 59-58.

After trailing 13-12 at the end of the first quarter, the Demons played some of their best ball of the season in the second quarter to erase that deficit and lead 37-26 at the break. When it looked like they were going to run away with it in the second half, Trevor Paulsen started to catch fire and the lead shrunk to four heading into the final frame. Despite a nail-biter finish the Demons never relinquished their lead and they held on for their first road victory of the year. Paulsen finished with 19 points to lead Marion. Jack Redlinger put together a monstrous day with a game-high 23 points and eight boards for the Demons.

Washington finished off the pre holiday slate with a two game win streak and sit at 2-4 on the season. They will resume play January 2nd against Fort Madison.