The Washington Demons held on to win a wild season opener in girls’ basketball last night, defeating Muscatine 55-52. Washington started the night strong, building a 17-6 lead by the end of the first quarter and going up by as much as 17 points in the first half.

But Muscatine would respond, cutting the deficit down to 29-20 by halftime and pulling within five points heading into the final period. The Muskies would come all the way back and managed to take a four-point lead in the final 30 seconds of play.

Down three starters that had fouled out and with their backs to the wall, the Demons got back within one score when Addison Miller hit a pair of free throws. And, after Muscatine turned the ball over, the junior came open on the ensuing in-bounds play and laid it in to tie things at 48 with 12 seconds left.

The game would go to overtime, where a layup by Emma Horak would be Washington’s only basket of the extra session. Fortunately, Miller hit some clutch free throws, and the Demons did enough to hold off the Muskies.

After the game, head coach Shannon Rugg told KCII Sports that his team showed incredible resiliency, even when many first-time varsity players were thrust into big roles at the end of a tight game.

“Just super proud of the girls,” Rugg said. “Our defense the last half of the fourth quarter and overtime really gave them some problems, and we communicated extremely well, especially with the young kids in there. I’m super proud of that.”

Miller tied senior Kendall Hinrichsen in scoring a team-high 16 points each for Washington, while junior Adalyn Long had nine points and senior Lauren Hinrichsen added seven.

The Demons win their season opener for the second time in the last three years and will now try to go to 2-0 this coming Tuesday in their next game against Albia.