The Washington Demons will start a new season of Southeast Conference basketball tonight when they host Keokuk for a doubleheader you can hear on KCII. The Washington girls will be trying to build on a 40-36 victory they got over Grinnell last night to improve to 2-1 early in the season.

Sophomore Adalyn Long and junior Kendall Hinrichsen have led the team in scoring and steals, powering the team’s offense with their defense. Sophomores Addison Miller and Oaklee Sobaski have also provided a scoring punch off the bench. Demon head coach Shannon Rugg tells KCII Sports that his team’s greatest asset is its tenacity.

“Our girls aren’t going to back down,” Rugg says. “They’re going to show up and they’re going to compete. We may make some mistakes, but we’re going to make [the opponent] go a hundred miles an hour and fight and scratch and claw and whatever we’ve got to do to compete.”

Washington will be facing a Keokuk team that has been the cream of the corp in the Southeast Conference of late, winning at least a share of the league championship in four of the last five seasons. The Chiefs are currently led by young stars like sophomore Kendra Boatman, who leads the team in scoring.

In the boys’ game, the Demons will be looking to bounce back from a 48-31 defeat at Grinnell yesterday. Sophomore Kael Williams was one of the stars of the season-opening win Tuesday over Albia, posting a double-double with team highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds but still hitting a pair of the team’s eight total three-pointers. Head coach Collin Stark tells KCII Sports that his young bunch will be a matchup problem for any opponent.

“Teams are going to struggle in man [defense],” Stark says, “just because of how quick we are [and] how well we can shoot one through five. I keep joking with the guys [that we are] one of the only teams in the state where our five man, we kind of spot out in the corner [and] we want them to shoot from the three.”

Washington will try to take down a Keokuk team that won its opener earlier this week and is powered by all-conference guards Diego Garcia and Brenton Hoard. The Demons have won eight of their last nine games against the Chiefs. You can hear both games as Washington starts the conference hoops season by facing Keokuk this evening on 106.1 FM KCII and streaming on KCIIradio.com and the KCII app, beginning with the Countdown to Tip-Off at 5:30.