The top 10 countdown for the best sports stories in the area continues today with #9 on our list. For Washington we travel back to the winter when the Demon girls’ basketball team had one shining moment in February.

It was a tough campaign on the court for the young Demons finishing the regular season 2-19, but they saved their best game and most exciting moment for the right time. The orange and black were paired up with Oskaloosa in the first round of regionals with the heavily favored Indians having already beat Washington by 20 points a month prior. Anna Nacos was not going to let history repeat itself, as the senior scored the Demons’ first 14 points and helped Washington to a 15-10 first quarter advantage. The Indians settled in with a 13-2 second quarter and took a lead they didn’t relinquish until the final minute of the game. Trailing 37-35 with 10 seconds left Makenna Conrad received a kick out pass on the right arc and the sophomore calmly drilled her only three of the night for a 38-37 lead. One final stop at the other end stunned the Indian crowd and sent Demon faithful into a frenzy. Nacos finished with a game-high 18 points while Alex Murphy recorded 13 points and six rebounds. 

In the postgame, Nacos told KCII Sports she knew a special night was brewing. “We came out and knew we were going to leave it all on the floor. We had a lot of confidence coming in that we could win. I thought our defense, offense, and pick and rolls were great. I was so happy for Makenna. As soon as she got the ball I was telling her to shoot it and it was so awesome. She is a good shooter and should shoot more.”

The Demons would go on to fall to Central DeWitt in the next round and concluded the season 3-19. Check back in tomorrow for number eight on our countdown when we analyze a monstrous season on the softball diamond for one individual.