It was a rough day at the office for the Washington basketball teams last night when they dropped a pair of Southeast Conference matchups with Fort Madison.

As heard on KCII, the Demon girls came out with a strong defensive effort and held the SEC leading Bloodhounds to just seven points at the end of one and 16 at half. The problem all night was at the other end, as the Demons only tallied six points at the half on a pair of threes. Fort Madison (14-1) picked it up in the second half, but the Washington offense continued to struggle and the Bloodhounds walked away with the season sweep in a 48-18 final. Malarie Ross and Camille Kruse each had 10 points for the Bloodhounds. Washington turned the ball over 20 times and were led offensively by Josie Tanner with six points. Head Coach Shannon Rugg broke down the night. “I thought our half court defense gave them some problems and they couldn’t score for awhile. Offensively right now we just can’t score the ball. Part of that is we are turning it over and we have to make better decisions on the floor. That is on me to figure out how to get it through to them.” They drop to 2-15 overall and 2-7 in the league. 

The Demon boys got down early and could never fully recover in a 70-62 loss to Fort Madison (8-8) on the road. The boys drop to 11-5 overall and 6-3 in the league. Clinching the SEC will have to wait another day, as Burlington and Keokuk are now tied in the loss column with matching 4-3 records. Washington has one more conference bout next Friday against the Chiefs.

Weather pending, both Washington squads are set to host Clear Creek-Amana today.