The Washington Demons held on to earn a 55-53 victory over Oskaloosa in boys’ basketball last night. Washington got off to a strong start, leading 17-13 at the end of the first quarter and using a 7-2 run to end the first half with a 35-26 advantage.

But Oskaloosa responded with a 14-6 run to start the second half and slice their deficit down to one, and junior Kael Williams needed to hit a deep three-point shot to give the Demons a 44-40 lead going into the final period.

A layup from senior Logan McDole put Washington up by five with just under two minutes to play, and while the Indians would have a possession with six seconds left and a chance to tie, a steal by junior Rajan Roth secured the win for the Demons.

Roth scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the first half, while McDole had nine points and Williams and sophomore Nic Stone finished with seven each. After the game, Washington head coach Collin Stark told KCII Sports that rebounding was a big key to his team’s win.

“I think we had five or six offensive rebounds in the first half,” Stark said. “We just battled. It just seemed like tonight, it was a physical basketball game. Our guys ended up being two points better on the scoreboard, and that’s what matters.”

The Demon girls went on the road and suffered a 48-42 loss to West Liberty. The game couldn’t have started much better for Washington, going on a 14-5 spurt and leading 27-15 at the half.

The Demons were still up by seven headed into the fourth quarter, but West Liberty closed the game on an impressive 23-10 run. Junior Oaklee Sobaski hit three three-pointers in the first half and led the team by scoring nine points.

While the Washington girls are now 2-5, the Demon boys improve to 3-3. Both teams are now off until Friday when they face long-time rival Mount Pleasant. You can hear Washington basketball on 106.1 FM KCII Friday evening beginning with pregame coverage at 5:30.