It has been a struggle this season for the Washington Demon boys’ basketball team (5-8 overall; 1-3 Southeast) against the top teams in the Southeast Conference. On Tuesday, conference leader Fort Madison outscored Washington 22-6 in the first quarter and cruised to a 69-29 victory over the Demons.

Washington looks to put the performance behind them as they welcome in the Keokuk Chiefs tonight to Washington High School for a clash with the Chiefs. The first meeting took place last month in Keokuk, Washington fell behind 22-5 in the first eight minutes with the Chiefs winning the contest 77-33.

Keokuk senior Chris Ailes-Jones nearly outscored the Demons by himself, scoring a career-high 32 points in the victory. Junior guard Derek Anding scored a team-high 11 points for the Demons in the loss.

Coming into tonight’s game, Keokuk and Fort Madison are tied for the Southeast Conference lead with identical 4-1 conference records.

The boys’ varsity basketball game between Washington and Keokuk is scheduled to begin at 7:45 p.m. Live play-by-play coverage from Washington High School begins with the Washington Hy-Vee Pregame show at 5:45 p.m. for the girls’ contest on FM 106.1 and KCIIRadio.com.