Loogootee Jr-Sr High School

Lady Lions Outlast #6 Orleans in Overtime Thriller, Move to 5–1 The High School Lady Lions returned to action Tuesday night following Thanksgiving Break and their first loss of the season, a narrow 30–29 setback to North Daviess. Looking to get back on track, the #9 Lady Lions welcomed the #6 Orleans Lady Bulldogs to Jack Butcher Arena for a ranked showdown. The night opened with a 14–9 JV win for Loogootee, moving the JV squad to 2–2 on the year. Varsity Game Recap Loogootee struck first in the varsity matchup when junior Alaina Diamond grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed three and put it back in. Orleans answered with a three, but Ava Jeffers responded with a 15-foot jumper. Another Bulldog basket was followed by a Diamond three, giving Loogootee a 7–5 advantage. After another Orleans triple, Diamond found freshman Lydia Hawkins open underneath to reclaim the lead at 9–8. Orleans closed the quarter with a run of transition layups to move ahead 16–9. The Bulldogs opened the second period with another runout bucket to take their largest lead at 18–9. A timeout by Coach Brian Smith reset the Lady Lions on both ends. Out of the break, Sophia Toy buried a three from a Shaylee Graber assist to end the run, and a Diamond steal and finish cut the margin to four. Orleans momentarily halted the momentum with free throws, but Diamond answered again to make it 16–20 with 5:30 left in the half. Orleans responded with a 12–3 spurt, stretching their advantage to 32–22 at halftime. Lady Lions Rally in the Second Half Loogootee came out firing to open the third. Diamond scored twice on feeds from Jeffers and Hawkins, trimming the deficit to six. Orleans countered with an offensive putback, but consecutive threes from Alexis Heckard and Toy brought the Lady Lions within two at 34–32. The Bulldogs regrouped to push the lead to 40–33 before Jeffers muscled in a strong drive and Diamond converted a tough finish at the rim to make it 40–37. After an Orleans free throw, Toy drilled her third three of the night to pull Loogootee within one at 41–40. Early in the fourth, Graber attacked the baseline and scored to give the Lady Lions their first lead since the opening quarter, but suffered an injury on the play and would not return. Diamond extended the lead to 44–41 on a strong drive, but back-to-back Orleans buckets flipped the advantage again. Heckard found Diamond underneath for another score, and moments later Diamond jumped a passing lane, finishing an and-1 in transition to push the Lady Lions ahead 49–45 with one minute left. Foul trouble created late drama as Jeffers fouled out, and Orleans knocked down four clutch free throws to force overtime at 49–49. OT Belongs to Diamond and the Lady Lions The extra period opened with nearly two scoreless minutes before a Hawkins putback regained the lead for Loogootee. Orleans tied the game at the line, but Diamond delivered once more, grabbing her own miss and finishing to put the Lady Lions ahead for good. She added another layup and went a perfect 4-for-4 at the line in OT, while a final free throw from Hawkins sealed the 60–54 victory. Stat Leaders & Historic Performance Alaina Diamond delivered one of the most dominant performances in modern Lady Lions history, erupting for 34 points, the highest individual scoring night since Lauren Baugh’s 36 vs. Linton in 2006 under Coach Leslie VanHoy. Diamond added 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double in six games, shooting 12-for-18 from the field and 9-for-11 at the stripe while also recording 7 blocks. Other Lady Lions scorers included: Sophia Toy 9 points (three 3’s), Lydia Hawkins 8 points (3-for-5), 9 rebounds, Ava Jeffers 4 points (2-for-4), 9 rebounds, Alexis Heckard 3 points and 4 assists, Shaylee Graber 2 points before exiting with injury The #9 Lady Lions now turn their attention to a Saturday road test at #5 Evansville Christian, another high-profile matchup in their challenging early-season schedule.