Daviess County had no answer for Malachi Moreno and Great Crossings’ length, losing 69-37 in the opening round of the state tournament. After DC’s Jaxon Brown scored the first basket of the game, the Warhawks responded with an 11-0 run and never trailed again.
“We never really got into a flow in the first half and in the second half I thought we were better,” Daviess County head coach Neil Hayden said. “I thought we got some stops out of our zone and traps but we kind of dug ourselves into a hole in the first half.”
Brown found his stride early, scoring six of the Panthers’ eight first-quarter points. Great Crossing made some defensive adjustments, holding Daviess County to seven second-quarter points on 37.5% shooting. Heading into the game, the Panthers knew they would have to limit Moreno, and the 2025 Mr. Basketball winner showcased why, exploding for 21 points and 17 rebounds.
In the third quarter, the Warhawks pushed the lead to 29, but the Panthers quickly cut it to 17. Hayden attributed his team’s second-half success to executing on their traps.
“We showed some pressure and traps we hoped to save that may have caught them off guard,” Hayden said. “I think we got into a better flow of the game and settled in. I thought we did a heck of a job of continuing to play and fight.”
Vince Dawson was second in scoring for Great Crossing with 16 points, while Gage Richardson was 3-3 from deep to go along with his 13 points. Brown led the Panthers in scoring with 10 points, while Jonathan Moss and Aydan Ayer both had eight. DeAaron Watkins added six points and five rebounds, and Joe Varble finished with five points, including going 1-1 from deep.
Daviess County is losing three seniors to graduation in Ayer, Varble, and Brown — three cornerstone pieces to the program.
“They leave an imprint that is going to last for a couple more groups,” Hayden said. “I think any senior class can impact two or three classes underneath them. These three leave a really good imprint on our school. As student-athletes, they have invested so much time and worked their tails off to get us into this position.”
