The Kansas City Chiefs need a lesson on how to “Run it Back” and the Washington boys’ basketball team could be the teacher. For the second straight year the Demons stand atop of the Southeast Conference after a 57-43 season sweep of Keokuk last night.

As heard on KCII, both teams traded buckets in the first quarter with the Chiefs (12-7) having a slight 12-11 advantage. Locking down defensively in the second quarter saw Washington up 23-16 at the break and the lead continued to grow in part by a barrage of threes from Ethan Patterson and Travis Leyden. It was 45-30 after three and Keokuk never got back within single digits. Patterson knocked down four triples and finished with a game-high 20 points. Leyden, Lance Sobaski, and Trashaun Willis each added 10 points. Willis tells KCII Sports what it is like to go back-to-back. “It feels great. Anytime you can go out there and compete for a trophy or win of any kind is great. Getting the dub tonight is special.”

Washington finished the conference season 7-3 and Burlington shares a piece of the league crown with a matching 7-3 mark. Last year, Washington claimed their first conference title since 2007. The Demons are 14-5 overall and travel to Solon on Thursday to close the regular season. They will host a first round class 3A district game against Oskaloosa (2-16) on Monday, February 22nd.

The Demon girls hung around for 25 minutes, but ran out of gas in a 42-22 loss. Washington kept a slow pace and only found themselves down 6-4 after one and 16-6 at half. A flurry late in the third sparked by a Kaylin Long three cut the deficit to one-possession, but the Chiefs’ (8-7) Abby Wolter went on a tear for the 20-point win. The junior tallied 21 points on the night and capitalized on many turnovers out of the press. Washington was led by Anna Nacos with eight points and Alex Murphy added seven. The Demons close the regular season 2-18 and 2-7 in the SEC. They open the class 4A regionals on Wednesday at Oskaloosa (7-14).