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Cougars take 2 from Loogootee

todd lancaster, washington times-herald, ind.
·5 min read

Nov. 23—ELNORA — The North Daviess Cougars celebrated the past, present and future on Tuesday in the Cougar Den.

ND had a pre-game celebration to raise the 2022 Class A banner and pass out rings, they also celebrated Jaylen Mullen's 1,00 point early in the game, and began a run into 2023 with a 53-40 win over Loogootee.

Mullen went off for 19, but was slightly outdueled by Lion Peyton Bledsoe who went for 21. ND's Lance Wilson and Brendan Stickles had nine each, while Logan Wilson had eight, Austin Brower had five while Braden Stickles had three in a solid team effort.

"We know that we are going to have to play a different style and we are going to have to 'up the tempo.' This is kind of an unknown for us, but we have to do it," said ND coach Brent Dalrymple.

"I was a little concerned about the ceremonies and celebrations and our focus, but these seniors have shown me time-and-time again how mentally tough they are and can handle anything. I want to compliment Loogootee. They are going to be very tough this year."

Although Logan Wilson hit the first triple of the night, at 6:23 of the first quarter, Mullen hit the biggest 3-ball. Mullen's 3-point gave him his 1,000th career points. However, Lance Wilson, Brendan Stickles all helped to a 15-7 lead as ND looked very good. Loogootee's Leighton Jeffer and Peyton Bledsoe put on a 3-point display of their own and cut the lead to 16-17 at the half.

The Cougars continued with pressure to open the second, leading to a Lance Wilson trey and a 20-16 lead. Loogootee tied the game at 20-all but five points from Mullen gave ND a little breathing room. Austin Brower picked up his first points as a Coug to make it 27-24. However Bledsoe got the final basket of the half and the Lions trailed by just one, 27-26 at the half as Bledsoe had 14 in the first 16 minutes.

Mullen opened the third with a basket, followed by a Mullen trey to make it 32-26. Brendan Stickles helped ND roll to a 7-0 run.

Bledsoe added an old-fashioned 3-point play to keep it close. Stickles then turned a rebound at one end, to bucket at the other and a 36-29 margin. Braden Stickles added a trey and ND went up by 11 with a minute to play in the third.Lion Drew Walke added a basket, but ND still led 40-31 with eight minutes to play.

Bledsoe added a fade-away, by Mullen answered. Parker Arvin had a bucket for LHS, but again Brower answered to make it 45-35. Stickles made two more free throw tosses to make it a 13-point lead, but the Lions wouldn't give up Jeffers drained a 3 to keep it close, however, ND would hold on for 53-40 win to move to 1-0 on the season. Also in double figures for LHS was Jeffers with 11, Arvin with six and Walker with two.

North Daviess travels to Rose-Hulman to play Terre Haute North on Saturday, while LHS hosts ins own tourney.

Lady Cougars 33, Lady Lions 26

The North Daviess Lady Cougar used the outside shooting of Meah Dalrymple and the inside play of Hadley Parisien and Delaney Zorman to pushed ND past Loogootee 33-26 in the first game of the girl-boy double-header on Tuesday.

Dalrymple had 10, Zorman had 11 and Parisien added seven to pace the scoring.

ND took an early lead on a trey from Parisien 3-ball to go up 3-2, followed by adding an interior basket to make it 5-2, as Loogootee was hurt by turnovers. Lanie Cornelius and Dalrymple added baskets to make it 10-2. Dalrymple added a trey and the Cougars went into the second quarter up, 13-2.

Lion Katelyn Mason opened the second with a basket for Loogootee, but the next four points belonged to Loogootee. Madi Lengacher added a basket, but Emily Hawkins responded with an LHS basket to make it 19-7 which is how the half would end.

Mallorie Sutton opened with a pair of Lion buckets, along with a basket from Mason to cut the margin to 19-13. Dalrymple added a free throw and ND moved back to a 23-15 and Parisien pushed it back to a 10-point lead at 25-15. The Lions ended up out scoring ND, 10-6 during the quarter and going into the final 8:00 down by eight.

Loogootee opened the fourth by cutting the lead to five, but Dalrymple answered with a trey. Parisien and Madison Waggner traded baskets to make it 30-24 with 2:45 left in the game. ND led by five with a minute left when Zorman hit a pair of free throws to make 33-26 and give the Cougars a win.

"We had a real lack of urgency to start the game and that was the difference. We needed to come out the way they did. We had too many turnovers" said LHS coach Brian Smith.

Loogootee was led by seven each from Sutton and Hawkins and six each from Waggner and Mason.