If Washington residents heard a roar from the west, it was the Demon boys basketball team making a loud and resounding statement in Pella. The state was put on notice when the Demons invaded Dutch Country and took down the defending class 3A champions and No 2 ranked team by a 82-69 final score in front of a hostile crowd. 

Last year, Pella blew out Washington by 32 points and early on last night it appeared history was repeating itself with the Dutch racing out to a 12-3 lead before you could blink. After a timeout by Washington, the Demons started to muscle up and clawed their way back to a two point deficit after the period. The war was on from there with Washington leading 35-32 at half and 50-49 after three. The Demons dominated the fourth by a 32-20 count in large part by nailing 15 of 22 second half free throws. Ethan Patterson was a man on a mission collecting a game-high 29 points including seven made threes. Four Demons were in double figures with Kasen Bailey recording 14 of his 17 points in the final two quarters. Lance Sobaski and Lucas Kroll handled the boards down the stretch and finished with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Head Coach Collin Stark tells KCII Sports this was a big one for his program. “This was a fun environment and this is why we put these type of games on the schedule. We not only want to prove to others, but to ourselves that we are ready to take that next step as a program. This is big for getting over that hurdle. This group is very close and it shows on the court. We enjoyed this one in the locker room.”

The girls got out to a rough 25-6 start after one and never found their footing in a 66-18 loss to the Dutch (2-2) Alex Murphy paced the team with a nine point effort and Lauren Hinrichsen added four. 

The boys stay unbeaten at 3-0 and the girls drop to 0-3. Both teams get back on the court Friday against Burlington.