The Washington Demons came up short in a pair of close basketball matchups with Tipton last night. The Washington girls trailed by five points at the end of both the first quarter and the first half, and their deficit grew to as large as 12 points in the second half.

Washington would rally, ending the game on a 12-5 run that senior Lauren Hinirchsen powered by scoring eight of her team-high 13 points, but it would not be enough to catch the Tigers in a 39-34 loss. Junior Adalyn Long added 12 points as the Demons fell to 3-8.

The Washington boys started their game strong, racing out to a 12-2 lead in the first period. But Tipton dominated the rest of the first half and went into the break up 31-25.

The Tigers would take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter, but the Demons countered with a 14-4 run to tie the game at 54. A layup from senior Clay Bohlmann put Tipton back up with two minutes to play, and they would be in front by four in the final minute after another basket from senior Jacob Barton.

Junior Drew Conrad knocked down a three-point bucket with 14 seconds left to slice the margin back down to two, and while Bohlmann went just one-for-two at the free-throw line after some Washington fouls, the Demons did not get off a tying shot in a 60-57 defeat.

Senior Logan McDole scored 13 points to lead Washington, while Conrad had 12 points and senior Seth Shepherd added 10 off the bench. Back-to-back losses have the Demons at 5-5.

Both Washington teams next play Friday at Burlington. You can catch Demon basketball on KCII Friday evening starting with pregame coverage at 5:30 on 106.1 FM.