North Daviess Gets Rings And Win In Season Opener Against Loogootee

Daviess County, IND – It was a jubilant night in Elnora. Not only would the Cougars receive their State Championship rings in a ceremony before the game, they would begin their season against the Loogootee Lions. Jaylen Mullen became the next member of the 1K point club as he paced North Daviess with 19 points while Peyton Bledsoe of Loogootee led all scorers with 21.

North Daviess takes down Loogootee, 53 to 40.

Loogootee would come out strong behind the play of Peyton Bledsoe and Leighton Jeffers. Bledsoe and Jeffers were absolutely on fire early knocking in 2 first quarter threes a piece. They would almost single-handedly keep the Lions in the game early. It looked like it was going to be another classic between these schools as both schools would go back and forth and the defending state champs were barely hanging onto a 27-26 lead at the end of the first half.

North Daviess would seemingly figure out the Lions in the second half. They came out with a renewed sense of urgency and took it to the Lions. They would employ a 3/4 court press that just gave Loogootee nightmares. This led to a lot of open buckets on the other end. Brendan Stickles was mostly quiet in the first half but turned it on in the second as he scored 7 of his 9 points in the second half and was very disruptive on defense. The Wilson twins would continue to be extra efficient on offense and tenacious on defense. Behind Jaylen Mullen’s 19, there was very balanced scoring from the Cougars’ supporting cast. North Daviess would outscore Loogootee 26-14 to run away with their first victory of the season.

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Players of the Game

Jaylen Mullen G North Daviess

Jaylen paced the Cougars with 19 points and was at times the best basketball player on the floor Tuesday. His vision and basketball IQ are something to behold and if the Cougars make any noise in 3A this year it will be on his shoulders.

Peyton Bledsoe F Loogootee

Loogootee is going to be just fine as long as they have Peyton Bledsoe. His ability to make shots off the dribble and his low post game are going to give a lot of teams trouble this year. Bledsoe finished the game leading all in scoring with 21 and for a while North Daviess had no answer for him.

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Scoring Leaders

North Daviess Cougars

1. Jaylen Mullen – 19
2. Brendan Stickles – 9
3. Lance Wilson – 9

Loogootee Lions

1. Peyton Bledsoe – 21
2. Leighton Jeffers – 11
3. Parker Arvin – 6

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Photos

For all of the sights and emotions of North Daviess season opener please check out our full photo gallery by clicking here.

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Up Next

Loogootee hosts Evansville Day Saturday Nov. 26th at 11 a.m. as part of a tournament at Jack Butcher Arena.

North Daviess travels to Terre Haute and the Rose-Hulman Center to take on Terre Haute North Vigo Saturday Nov. 26th at 8:30 p.m.

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