Washington’s season opener ended in thrilling fashion. Raquan Harris sank a three with just 2.8 seconds left to win the game for the visiting Knights, 69-68. The finish was appropriate for a back-and-forth contest that featured 11 lead changes.

The Pam Pack got an early layup in the fourth to knot things up at 55 apiece. The visitors pulled back ahead with a pair of early free throws, which left Washington playing catch up for most of the final eight minutes.

Shaiquan Moore had a layup of his own to answer each Northern Nash basket. He scored Washington’s first eight points of the period until Brandon Jackson hit a three to tie the game at 64-64. Moore tipped in a rebound to give his side a late 68-66 lead.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that weren’t varsity players last year,” said head coach Steven Flowers. “It was a pretty outstanding effort overall. Dumb mistakes, we didn’t close out on that last shot, but we’re proud of the effort.

“I thought we got pretty balanced scoring. We got a lot of points from different guys. Moore was one of the leading scorers, but we got in foul trouble. You kind of lose something when you get in foul trouble.”

The game was close throughout. Washington earned 10 of its first 11 points right at the rim. The transition game ran smoothly for the quick Pam Pack and attacking the interior opened up options outside. Tyshawn Cobb hit a shot from long range to give Washington a 14-13 lead — and the game’s third lead change — midway through the first.

“If we can rebound, we’re going to get out and run,” Flowers’ said of the game’s speed. “We’re not very big.”

Washington and Northern Nash traded the lead half a dozen times before concluding the first eight minutes tied at 20-20.

The Knights scored five quick points to open the first half before Washington erupted on a 13-0 run. The Pam Pack were making shots from all over the court, including mid-range jumpers from Isaiah Peed and Cobb and a trey from Moore.

The Pam Pack took the lead into the third quarter, but Northern Nash was able to scrape back and reclaim it. Flowers was pleased with his team’s ability to hang on and battle throughout the game.

“We’ve got a lot of heart,” he said. “A lot of young guys, but they believe and they just keep fighting.”

And it continued like that through the final period. Washington tied the game five times in the last eight minutes before conceding that game-winning trey.

The game was an effective early-season test against a 3-A school. It’s not so much that Flowers was trying to schedule tough opponents early on as much as he just wanted to have teams on the schedule in the first place.

“We don’t really care who we play. We’re just trying to fill up the schedule,” Flowers said. “We wanted to have 22 games this year. A lot of times, we don’t have enough games because football goes into the playoffs and they go deep. Last year, I think we had 18. The year before I think we had 17 games.”