Loogootee wins the fight over Orleans, first Sectional Championship since 2017

If I could use one word to describe last night’s sectional championship game, I would use brawl. Second word would probably be loud. The Loogootee Lions came out as the sectional champions, beating the Orleans Bulldogs, 41-34.

The stands were filled, and they got loud. There’s something about the acoustics at the Loogootee gym that just makes everything extra booming. When both fan sections got going, it felt college level loud. Both student sections were great.

The game was physical, players were on the floor scrapping for lose balls. Wrestling for jump balls. And beating each other relentlessly in the post. It was a game of a lot of fouls. Some missed, and some blatant, but the players were allowed to play, and it turned it a literally dog piles often.

The rough level of play led Orleans into early foul trouble. Xavier Alston and Ian Hall were both sitting early in the second due to fouls. Alston would later sit out early in the third after picking up back to back fouls to start the second half.

Without Alston in the lineup, things typically go south for the Bulldogs, and it did. The last few games Orleans has been in a shooting slump, they just haven’t been able to find good shots, or finish when they do. Same story tonight. They only put up 2 points in the first and didn’t score at all in the third.

The Lions struggled at times but were able to pull away when it mattered. They played terrific defense, utilizing great zone play to disrupt the Bulldogs. Peyton Bledsoe shined with 15 points and Isaac Eagle added 11, for Loogootee’s first sectional with since 2017.

Loogootee moves on to face Northeast Dubois, who pulled off the surprising OT win over Evansville Christian.

Please keep scrolling to view the photos from last nights game between Loogootee and Orleans.