Years of life may have been shaved off of Washington basketball fans last night, as both the girls and boys found a way to triumph over rival Mount Pleasant in a pair of one-possession games.
As heard on KCII, the girls welcomed the Panthers to town and were slow out of the gates falling behind 7-6 after one and 16-10 at half. The Panthers’ 2-3-zone defense was causing some fits with the Demons’ inability to get the ball inside or nail jump shots outside of a pair of threes by Kinsey Duwa. Anna Nacos came out aggressive in the second half with the dribble drive and jumpstarted the offense. A common theme was Washington cutting a three-possession deficit into one, only to have the Panthers answer back. The Demons finally broke through with a few minutes left in the fourth and the game stayed tied at 37-37 at the end of regulation. It was the Halle Leyden show in overtime, as the senior scored the first six points for a lead they would never relinquish. The pesky Panthers stayed closed, but a desperation heave at the buzzer was too long and Washington downed their rivals for the first time in four years with a final score of 50-47. Nacos recorded 16 of her team-high 19 points in the second half and Leyden’s big overtime contributed to a 12-point night. Kinsey Duwa finished with 10 points despite fouling out early in the fourth. Head Coach Shannon Rugg tells KCII Sports his team stayed with it after a slow start. “I think the girls were a little nervous to start because it has been so long since we beat them and they wanted to so bad. Extremely proud of how they stuck together. We had two starters foul out and we continued to get stops defensively while doing enough on the offensive end.” The team improves to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in the Southeast Conference.
The Demon boys also had a nail biter edging the Panthers 55-54 on the road for the season sweep. They are now 9-3 overall and keep pace atop of the league standings with a 5-1-conference record.
Both teams return to the court Monday hosting Ottumwa for a doubleheader.