The first girl/boy basketball doubleheader of the season for Washington resulted in a split on Monday night at Muscatine.

As heard on KCII, it took awhile for the Demon girls to find their footing and they found themselves down 17-1 after eight minutes of play. It was pretty even the rest of the way, but Washington could never get it to a single digit deficit and they finished with a 44-24 setback. Zoey Long was a Demon killer with 19 points for Muscatine to lead all scorers. Anna Nacos and Addison Six each had six points for the now 5-4 Demons.

The boys did just enough to hold off the Muskies in a 50-44 win. Washington was sluggish out of the gates and trailed 12-9 after one, but a prosperous second quarter saw them take a 26-18 lead into half. The second half was a game of runs where Washington would go up by double digits only to have Muscatine battle back. They could never take the lead however, and for the second straight game it was the Demons’ ability to make free throws down the stretch that salted it away. Kasen Bailey paced the team with 19 points including five threes and Trashaun Willis added 10 points. Head Coach Collin Stark tells KCII Sports the second quarter was huge for his team. “We have a lot of guys that can score, but we are at our best when we play well defensively. They had 12 points after one quarter, but then it took them four minutes into the second before they scored again. That defensive intensity allowed us to go on a run.” The Demons improve to 6-2 overall.

The boys get back on the court tonight at Albia and the girls have a second crack at Fairfield on Friday.