The season is on the line tomorrow night for Washington Demon girls’ basketball when they host Davis County to start the postseason, and you can hear the Class 3A Region 5 quarterfinals tomorrow evening on KCII.
Washington is hoping that the start of a second season will be the cure for a recent five-game losing streak. The Demons have lost seven of the last eight games in total, all since starting point guard and leading scorer Adalyn Long exited the lineup due to injury.
But, while Washington comes into the postseason with an 8-12 record, there have been plenty of strengths that have made them a tough out. The Demon defense has been a solid one, allowing just under 49 points per game.
Current point guard Kendall Hinrichsen has been the team’s leading scorer since January and has averaged better than eight points a game scored for the whole season. Fellow junior guard Lauren Hinrichsen had one of her best offensive games of the season in Washington’s last game when she scored 12 points Tuesday against Burlington.
Demon head coach Shannon Rugg tells KCII Sports that one way his team can win in the playoffs is by generating offense at the free-throw line, but they have to be careful not to allow Davis County to get too many opportunities at the charity stripe themselves.
“They actually foul more than we do,” Rugg says, “so we want to get ourselves to the free-throw line and win the free-throw-line battle. They’ve made more free throws than we’ve attempted all year, so obviously they’ve been pretty good at getting themselves there. [We need to play] good defense, whatever defense we’re going to end up playing, just moving your feet and not reaching and trying not to send them to the free-throw line.”
Washington will be facing a Davis County squad that is 9-12 and has been led by senior Reese Humphrey’s nearly 12-and-half points per contest. The Demons have won their last four meetings with the Mustangs.
You can hear Washington Demon playoff girls’ basketball tomorrow night on 106.1 FM KCII and streaming on KCIIradio.com and the KCII app. Coverage begins with the Countdown to Tip-Off at 6:30.