The Washington girls’ basketball team put up a good fight on the road, but saw their season come to an end with a 55-35 loss to Tipton in a 3A Regional semifinal.

Washington was looking to pull off the upset of the 11th-ranked Tigers, but unfortunately, the Demons fell into an early deficit that they couldn’t quite climb out of. Tipton took advantage of their height inside, winning the rebounding battle and scoring several putbacks. A rough stretch in the final minute of the first quarter saw Tipton take an 11-3 lead heading into the second. Scoring picked up starting with the second quarter, but when Washington attempted to swarm the post, Tipton started firing more from beyond the three-point line, building a 30-17 lead by halftime.

The Demons played a much more stable second half, but while the lead didn’t grow at quite the same pace as it did in the first two quarters, Washington failed to make any sort of headway toward a comeback. One more three-pointer in the final minute of play gave the Tigers a 20-point win, 55-35.

Head coach Colin Mulford says his team put forth a good effort, it just wasn’t enough to stop an on-form Tipton team. “I thought we battled really well. You know, Tipton, hats off to them, today they were the better team. When their shooters are shooting like that and they have their posts inside, anyone in the state’s going to have a hard time stopping them.”

Oaklee Sobaski led the Demons in the final game of her career, picking up 9 points on three triples. Adalyn Long finishes her career with an 8-point performance. The Tigers were led by Zane Ehler and Ella Hein’s 15. Washington ends its season at 12-11, its first winning season since 2019-20. Tipton improves to 21-2 and will face Williamsburg on Saturday for the 3A Region 5 championship.