The first basketball doubleheader of the winter took place in Washington on Friday when the Demons welcomed Fairfield for a Southeast Conference showdown and both schools walked away with a split.
The Washington boys’ started their quest for a third straight SEC crown by holding off a pesky Trojan (1-1) bunch 50-45. Early on, it was Fairfield that threw the first punch by bringing the energy and forcing six Demon first quarter turnovers. They led 14-10 after one, but a Washington stop with five seconds left in the frame and a buzzer beating layup by Avery Six woke the home crowd. The orange and black used that momentum to eventually take a lead that stood at 22-20 at the break. The margin steepened to as high as eight for Washington in the second half, but they could never put Fairfield away. The Trojans had a great look with five seconds left by JJ Lane that could have tied it at 48, but a rebound and pair of free throws by Lance Sobaski salted the game away. Ethan Patterson capitalized on three second half triples to lead the Demons with 13 points and senior Lucas Kroll also had 13. Aden Six had a solid debut off the bench with 10 points. Fairfield’s 6’5’’ center Max Weaton was held to 11 points, well under his season average of 19 last year and head coach Collin Stark pointed at that being a huge key. “If you look across the board, Weaton has a couple inches on everyone of our guys. It all started with Lucas playing great defense on him, but he also had a lot of help. We were holding our own rebounding and forced him into tough shots. To keep him to 11 points is a great defensive accomplishment for us.”
The Demon girls got out to a slow start offensively and could never get over the hump in a 59-35 loss. The Trojans (1-1) jumped out to a 12-4 lead after one when Washington went on a quick 5-0 run in the second. The momentum was short lived, with Fairfield answering with a 20-6 surge to close the half and the 17 point advantage continued to grow in the final two quarters. Fairfield’s Delaney Breen led all scorers with 20 points while Makenna Conrad paced Washington with 11 and Kaylin Long added eight.
The Demon boys start up the year 1-0 and the girls drop to 0-2. Both squads get back on the court Monday at Centerville.