As the final seconds ticked down to cement Daviess County’s 3rd Region Championship win over Grayson County 69-56, a smile emerged on Panthers point guard Jonathan Moss’s face. As the buzzer sounded and Post Malone began to blare over the loudspeakers, Moss sprinted to his awaiting teammates, mauling each other as they let out joyous cheers.
“This was the dream,” senior Aydan Ayer said after the game. “From the very beginning of the season this was the dream. This group of guys were amazing. We are so close and to be able to do this with this group means so much.”
Grayson County jumped out to an early 8-1 lead, but the Panthers responded with a 13-4 run to take a 14-12 lead into the second quarter. The trio of Jaxon Brown, DeAaron Watkins, and Moss combined for all 14 of the team’s points.
After only scoring two points in the first quarter, the Cougars’ Jack Logsdon found his shot from deep, hitting three threes and scoring 10 of his team-high 25 points. One of the top players in the region, Logsdon hit three more threes in the second half, but was mostly kept in check down the stretch.
“We wanted to meet him early and find him early,” Daviess County head coach Neil Hayden said. “We also wanted to make him take tough shots and get the rebound.”
Trailing 30-27 at halftime, Moss and Brown took over the game, combining for 14 of the team’s 18 third quarter points. Hayden credited his team’s dominant second half to the fact they stopped fouling. The Cougars shot 8-10 at the line in the first half, but only had two free throws for the rest of the game.
Leading 45-43 at the start of the fourth, Moss continued terrorizing the Cougars, sinking back-to-back threes to start the quarter. Pushing the lead into double digits, the Panthers shot 10-10 at the line to close out the game.
Moss led the way with 29 points and four assists, while Brwon added 15 points, two rebounds, and one assist. Watkins led the team in rebounding with seven and added 11 points, while Varble and ayer both added seven points. For the Cougars, Logsdon hit six threes to go along with his 25 points.
Next up for the Panthers is Great Crossing, their first-round opponent of the State Tournament. Ayer wants to see his team continue to play together and carry their momentum from Region into the State Tournament. His teammates echoed his sentiments.
“We need to keep practicing hard,” Moss said. “Carry over what we practice on and hopefully we will win at state.”
This marks the first time since 2011 that the Panthers have won the region and the first time in school history that both the boys and girls won the region in the same year. While the Panthers have their eyes on a deep run at the tournament, they are eyeing finally playing at Rupp Arena.
“Rupp means everything to us,” Watkins said. “This was my dream. I have wanted to play there since I was young.”
