The Washington Demon girls basketball team travels to Muscatine tonight to take on the class 5A ranked Muskies.
Washington is coming off a high scoring win against Oskaloosa, but not one that came without some adversity. The Demons picked up 20 total fouls in the game on Saturday and had four players sitting on the bench with two fouls in the first half.
The Demons are scoring 53.8 points per game, but their shooting is down to just 33 percent from the field and 22 percent from beyond the arc. The Demons are one of the top teams in free throw attempts which helps with their 57 percent shooting at the line. Washington is led by Grace Redlinger with 13.4 points per game, and Dema Giardino with 10.2. Stephanie Fishback can also get hot and score with 8.8 points per game.
Muscatine is scoring 54.7 points per game with a 12.4 point difference over their opponents, and their top two scorers are scary on paper. Emily Clemens is scoring 16.2 points per game and is shooting close to 50 percent from the floor, while Annabel Graettinger is scoring 13. 1 points per game and shooting 48 percent from the field and 42 percent from downtown.
Demon head coach Phil Long said if his team can play like they did in the second half against Oskaloosa, then they have a shot at making tonight’s matchup a quality game.
“Coach Orvis has really got them playing well and ranked No. 8 in class 5A, and if we don’t go take care of business, they could beat us by 20 or 30 points, but at the same time, if we go and play like we did in the second half (Saturday), and take care of the basketball, and throw it ahead, make shots and make Muscatine use the depth of their bench, then I think we can give them at least a respectable game at their place,” Long said.
The Demons and Muskies will play at Muscatine with a 7:30 tip-off.