The Southeast Conference boys basketball standings still shows Washington all alone at the top, as they stayed unbeaten in the league with a 57-50 road victory at Fort Madison last night.

As heard on KCII, the game was full of momentum swings with the Demons leading throughout, but the Bloodhounds would never go away. Washington kept Fort Madison at arm’s length for much of the first half and they got some breathing room with a buzzer beating three by Ethan Patterson to take a 29-18 advantage into the break. The Bloodhounds inched closer in the third, but a big turning point was a six point Demon possession where Kasen Bailey knocked down two regular foul free throws, two technical free throws, and Brock Sobaski connected on a two-point field goal. That stretched the lead out to 16, but once again Fort Madison would claw back to trail by just three with two minutes remaining. The Demons made enough plays down the stretch and some clutch free throw shooting from Bailey and Trevor Quigley salted the game away. Bailey finished a remarkable 14-of-14 from the charity stripe and had a game-high 24 points. Quigley and Patterson each had eight points. Head Coach Collin Stark gave credit to Fort Madison for fighting back. “They haven’t shot the ball well this season, but they have timely threes. They kept attacking us tonight and were getting to the free throw line. If they made their free throws it could have ended differently. Give credit to our guys for making enough plays down the stretch to get the win.” The Demons improve to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the conference.

The Washington girls saw a 20-9 halftime advantage continue to grow in the second half, as they ran away with a 46-23 home victory. Anna Nacos recorded 12 points and four steals while Olivia Pacha had 12 points and five rebounds. Washington shot 42% from the floor and held the Bloodhounds to a measly 17%. They improve to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the league.

Both teams return to the floor Monday at Muscatine.