Shooting 26-29 at the line, Daviess County took care of Breckinridge County 67-45 to return to the 3rd Region Championship game for the first time since the 2016-2017 season. It was a balanced attack for the Panthers, with four of the five starters scoring in double figures. Jonathan Moss led the way with 18 points and shooting 9-11 at the line.
“We are one of the best teams in the state at the line and to get to the free throw line almost 30 times is a big deal,” Daviess County head coach Neil Hayden said. “We had the right guys shooting free throws, so we felt very comfortable doing that.”
Moss caught fire early in the first quarter, hitting a three to go along with his six points. Jaxon Brown and Aydan Ayer also found their shot from deep – each hitting a three to start.
Trailing 14-9 entering the second quarter, Breckinridge County’s scored seven of his nine points to keep his team in the game. On the other side, Watkins, Ayer, and Brown combined for all 11 of the Panthers second quarter points to give them a 25-20 halftime lead.
After only scoring two points in the first half, the Fighting Tigers Mercer Rogers scored five points in the third quarter, but he would be held scoreless for the rest of the game.
“He’s good and to hold him to seven was a big priority.” Hayden said. “We had to find him early. We did a really good job defensively.”
Entering the night, Rogers was averaging just over 20 points a game and scored 29 against the Panthers in their regular season matchup. Hayden attributed the adaptions to not running into foul trouble.
“The last game, we got a lead, but they ended up shooting 30 free throws. We fouled and not only did we foul, but we fouled shooters. We did some better thing son our coverages on him where he couldn’t get into the lane as easily. We had to steep to the level of the ball to find him so it wouldn’t be a wide-open lane.”
In the second half, the Panthers pulled away thanks to consistently attacking the rim and shooting 24-25 at the line.
Moss finished with 18 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals, while Watkins added a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds. Ayer and Brown combined for five threes.
“We played together, and I feel we didn’t settle on too many threes,” Watkins said after the game. “We drove to the paint and got everybody involved.”
Back in the championship game, the Panthers will play Grayson County Tuesday evening at 7 pm.
