The entire Southeast Conference is still looking up at the Washington boys in the league standings and the Demons have a fourth quarter comeback last night to thank for that. They invaded Keokuk and triumphed in a 46-42 affair. 

As heard on KCII, the Demons threw the first punch up 12-4 after five minutes and 15-8 after one. Keokuk (5-5) made adjustments defensively and shut Washington down for the next two quarters to tie it at 27 all at the break and they stormed out to a 41-31 lead heading into the fourth. Double-digit fourth quarter deficit? No sweat. It took just three minutes for the Demons to retake the lead on the strength of a couple threes from Ethan Patterson and Travis Leyden. Up two with four seconds left, Kasen Bailey calmly drilled both one-and-one free throws to salt the game away and give the Demons their first win at Keokuk in four seasons. 

Washington outscored the Chiefs 15-1 in the final period and Head Coach Collin Stark praised the defensive effort. “We are consistently just going seven deep in our rotation, but being able to have enough energy to go full court press in the fourth was huge. They were in a comfort zone for awhile in the third and then we sped them up to change that. We are used to averaging 60-plus points a game and this was more of a defensive battle. We needed to compete at that end to win tonight and we did that.” Reigning conference player of the year Anthony Potratz had 14 points at the break, but Bailey drew the assignment on the 6’4’’ big man in the second half and held him scoreless. Bailey finished with a game-high 15 points, Patterson had 11, and Trashaun Willis recorded 10. The Demons improve to 8-3 overall and stay in first with a 5-1 league mark. They hit the road to Davis County on Tuesday. 

The Washington girls got out to a strong start defensively, but couldn’t hold up with Keokuk (4-5) running away to a 59-25 victory. It was 7-5 Chiefs after one when full court pressure sped the Demons up for a 26-5 second quarter to put the game out of reach. Abby Wolter had 23 points for Keokuk. The Orange and Black were led by Anna Nacos with eight points while Alex Murphy and Makenna Conrad chipped in with six apiece. The Demons are now 1-11 overall and 1-5 in conference. They get right back on the floor tonight at Oskaloosa (5-7).