The Washington Demons picked up a road victory in boys’ basketball last night over Southeast Conference rival Fort Madison 73-63. The game was tied at 10 at the end of the first quarter, and Washington never led by more than seven points before going into halftime up 28-24.

The Demons still only led 49-48 heading into the final period, but an offensive explosion allowed Washington to pull away for the win. Demons head coach Collin Stark told KCII Sports after the game he believes his team’s performance down the stretch might be the start of something bigger.

“This is that game that, hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ll see [that] this was that turning point,” Stark said. “We’re not just trying to compete. We’re trying to win, and, moving forward, [we are] seeing if we can string some wins together to make a run in that second half of the year.”

Senior Roman Roth led Washington by scoring a game-high 22 points. Sophomore Drew Conrad poured in 10 of his 16 points in the second half, while freshman Nic Stone hit five three-pointers off the bench to finish with 15 points and help the Demons improve to 2-2 in conference play and 4-5 overall.

The Washington girls would fall 56-49 at Fort Madison last night. After only trailing by a point at halftime, being on the wrong end of a 14-3 run to start the third quarter would put the Demons too far behind to come back from.

Sophomore Adalyn Long had a game-high 17 points to pace Washington, while junior Kendall Hinrichsen scored nine of her 11 points in the second half to give the Demons a chance, but they nonetheless fall to 2-2 in the Southeast Conference and 5-5 overall. Both Washington teams now have their winter break and are off until they begin playing games again January 5th.