It was round two between Southeast Conference rivals on Friday with the Washington basketball teams set to meet Mount Pleasant for the final time this season.
As heard on KCII, the Demon girls gave the Panthers (7-8, 3-4) all they could handle, but the fourth quarter was the difference in a 48-37 Mount Pleasant win. Washington made it apparent early they were not going to let a 61-32 loss to the Panthers last month happen again and they threw the first punch with a 10-3 spurt to start the game on the strength of a three from Kaylin Long and the mid-range game from Alex Murphy. The purple and gold started to settle in and went on a 24-6 run to close the half to lead 27-16 at the break. Washington had one of their best stretches all season right out of half with a quick 11-0 sprint to erase the deficit and it was deadlocked at 32-32 heading into the fourth. Panther leading scorer Andrea Lopreato did what she does best in the fourth to carry them to the 11-point win and the junior finished with 21 points. Murphy paced the Demons with 11 points while Long and Lauren Hinrichsen each buried three triples for nine points a piece. Head Coach Shannon Rugg tells KCII Sports he was pleased with his team’s efforts. “I’m super proud of these girls in how we played. Last time we played them at half we were down 20 some points. To be honest with you we put in a new offense and defense last night and we ran it the whole game. I thought defensively we gave them problems all night and take away a few possessions where we broke down, it could have been a different ending. We gave ourselves a chance and that’s all I could ask out of them.” Washington drops to 1-13 overall and 1-7 in the Southeast Conference.
Per usual, the No. 4 Demon boys were in for a 32-minute tussle on the road and once again veteran leadership paired with free throws down the stretch led to a 56-45 victory. Like the girls’ contest, the second meeting was a contrast from the first with Washington needing to work much harder than a 29-point blowout in December. The Panthers (4-9, 2-5) hung tough trailing just 14-12 after one and 24-23 at the break. The second half hovered around a two possession game before the home Panthers were forced to foul and the Demons put the night away with a 17 of 20 outing from the line. Ethan Patterson led the team with 18 points, Kasen Bailey had 13, and Lucas Kroll had 12. Washington improves to 13-1 and keeps pace near the top of the conference standings with a 6-1 mark. No. 1 Fort Madison continues to hold the top spot after an 82-42 win over Keokuk last night to move to 6-0.
Both Demon teams return to the court Monday hosting Ottumwa in a doubleheader that can be heard on KCII.