Since the start of the 2026 season, all eyes in the 3rd Region have been upon Daviess County and Grayson County. The two quickly separated themselves from the rest of the region – blowing out opponent after opponent – putting the two teams on a collision course
Round one of the highly anticipated confrontation went to Grayson County, who, in front of a raucous Panthers home crowd, handed Daviess County their first region loss of the year, 68-64 – behind Jack Logsdon’s team-high 19 points.
“I didn’t think we were very fluid,” Daviess County Head Coach Neil Hayden said. “Offensively, I didn’t think we had a lot of flow. I thought they did a good job of their coverage on Jonathan, especially on ball screens. That made some things tough.”
Daviess County fell behind early, 8-5, but back-to-back threes by Lemontae Ratcliff and Davyn Randolph, and a thunderous fast break dunk by DeAaron Watkins put them up 13-8 and forced the Cougars to call a timeout. Daviess County’s 18-10 early second-quarter lead quickly evaporated, and the two teams exchanged baskets for the rest of the half.
After not scoring at all in the opening quarter, Logsdon unleashed two deep threes to get himself going, while Spencer Langdon added seven points. Acton carried the second-quarter scoring for the Panthers, dropping seven of his 16 points.
The Panthers took a slight 32-31 lead into halftime and opened the third with a three, but Grayson County responded with a 7-0 run. Trailing 50-43 at the start of the fourth quarter, Moss began to take over the game.
The senior guard flashed his versatility, splashing a pair of threes, pulling up from midrange, and attacking the rim through contact – scoring 16 of his game-high 29 points down the stretch.
“He’s just more assertive,” Hayden said. “He knows when the time to score was, and Jay has always been the kid who can show up in big moments. He was trying to keep us in the game.”
Despite his late-game heroics, every time the Panthers would start to trim the lead, Grayson County would answer right back – closing it out at the free throw line.
Moss led Daviess County with 29 points, six assists, two rebounds, and two steals, while Michael Acton had 16 points, seven rebounds, one block, and one assist. Ratcliff finished 3-4 from deep to go with his 12 points, and Watkins recorded four points, 12 rebounds, four blocks, one steal, and one assist.
Brody Armstrong was second on the Cougars in scoring with 17 points, Caden Gaither finished with 15 points, and Langdon recorded 12 points.
For Daviess County, their regular season has come to a close, and they have a week to prepare for their 9th District playoff game against Owensboro.
“After the game, I told them that it is a one-game season from here on out,” Hayden said. “The most important one is that first one in the District Tournament, and you have to win that one to advance. Our attention has to be on Owensboro.”
