The Washington Demon basketball teams swept a conference doubleheader last night in Fairfield. The Washington girls dominated Fairfield 62-32 to snap a 16-game losing streak to the Trojans. After trailing by as much as five in the first quarter, the Demons would outscore Fairfield 26-4 the rest of the first half and lead 30-13 at halftime, setting the tone for the rest of the night. Freshman Leighton Messinger again led Washington in scoring with 14 points and was one of four players in double figures. Senior forward Alex Murphy put up 13 points, while freshman Adalyn Long and sophomore Kendall Hinrichsen had 11 each. Demons head coach Shannon Rugg told KCII Sports that his team grinded through a game without much of a flow to still make things look pretty easy.

“It was ugly,” Rugg said. “It was an ugly game, but that’s kind of what we’re trying to commit to, so you’re going to see a lot of those games right there. Super proud of [the team]. They just stick together and they keep fighting.”

Washington starts a girls’ basketball season 2-0 for the first time in nine years. The Demon boys had to survive a 71-67 shootout to get their first win of the young season and continue a seven-game win streak against their conference rivals. Fairfield led by one after a quarter of play and at the half, eventually going up by as much as 11 in the third period. But Washington came back behind a balanced scoring attack and strong second-half defense, outscoring the Trojans 32-17 over the last 13 minutes. Leading the way was senior point guard Aden Six, who scored a career-high 22 points. Ethan Patterson finished with 17 points, while fellow senior Ajay Six scored 11 of his 15 points after the break. Head coach Collin Stark told KCII Sports his team finished the job in the way they couldn’t in a similar contest Tuesday evening.

“There was kind of a similar-type game, where we came back against Albia and we got up four,” Stark said, “but then we allowed them to tie it up and do the same thing in overtime. Where as today, we sealed the deal with it. This is huge. In our conference, any time you that you can go on the road and win, those are the ones thay ou really remember.”

Washington will step back from Southeast Conference play for their home opener Tuesday when they’ll entertain Pella. You can hear both games on 106.1 FM KCII.