LOOGOOTEE —

The only thing colder than the weather outside Jack Butcher

Arena on Friday was the shooting of the home team inside the arena.

On a night when the Lions unveiled their 2012 state championship banner,

Loogootee suffered its first loss of the season to their longtime nemesis

from Daviess County as the Washington Hatchets picked up a much needed win

46-29 over the Lions.

Washington (2-5) quickly extended a three-point halftime lead against Class

A No. 1 Loogootee (7-1). The Hatchets ran off an 11-0 run to begin the third

quarter and led 32-18 after three quarters, a margin which reached as many

as 20 points during the fourth quarter. Washington limited the Lions to just

13 second half points on 5-14 shooting in the second half as coach Gene

Miiller liked what he saw from his team on the defensive end of the floor.

In particular, Miiller was happy with his team¹s defense on Loogootee¹s

Connor Wittmer and Matt Mathies, who combined for just 13 points.

"We played really well defensively, we executed our game plan defensively

really well. I thought (Tyler) Stoll and (Cullen) Arnold did a great job on

Wittmer, and Jake Brashear did a really nice job on Mathies. Those were the

two main guys we were trying to stop and contain," said Miiller. "And I

thought the other guys did a good job of helping on those guys and then

getting back and playing their man."

It was team effort from the Hatchets, who were led in scoring by Arnold¹s 12

points. Stoll added 11, and together they were a big part of a 21-9 Hatchet

rebounding advantage. Jarrod Purdue knocked down a trio of 3-pointers for

nine points, followed by seven from Colton Garland. Brashear added four

points and played a solid floor game in directing the Hatchet offense.

Andy Garland finished with three points for WHS, which connected on 16-29

shots (55 percent) on the night.

The win against Loogootee capped a bruising pre-Christmas schedule for the

Hatchets and was important according to Miiller.

"It was a big win for us. The kids understand how hard you have to play to

beat good teams. We played hard tonight, we had better concentration

tonight, especially defensively," said Miiller. "This is a big win. To lose

this one going into the holidays 1-6 would have been tough. But hopefully

this gives us some momentum we can carry over into the second half of the

season."

Loogootee shot just 26 percent (10-38). Wittmer was the only Lion to reach

double figures with 11 points, followed by seven apiece from Colin Nelson

and Cam Wagler. Will Nonte rounded out the Loogootee scoring with two

points.

Loogootee coach Mike Wagoner felt his team didn¹t match the Hatchets when it

came to the intangibles of the game.

"We just talked in the locker room about having some heart, passion, and

desire when you step on the floor because people are going to come at you,"

said Wagoner. "I've seen Washington play, they play with a lot of heart, and

they play physical. I told the players before the game that they would play

physical, nothing dirty but to the point that we have to handle that and

attack it. And we didn¹t do that."

After trailing 11-6 after eight minutes of action, Washington rebounded and

led at -halftime 19-16.  The first half was marked by deliberate play on

behalf of the Hatchets as WHS was able to overcome six turnovers, a

statistic which was offset by Loogootee¹s 4-14 shooting. Colton Garland led

the Hatchets with seven points in the first half, while Wittmer topped LHS

with nine points.

Loogootee claimed the reserve contest 34-18. Josh Sibrel led the Lions with

13 points, while Luke Raymond netted five points to lead WHS.

WASHINGTON              6 13 13 14- 46

LOOGOOTEE                 11   5   2 11- 29

Washington (46) - Purdue 3 0-0 9, C. Garland 2 2-2 7, A. Garland 1 1-1 3,

Brashear 2 0-2 4, Stoll 3 5-6 11, Arnold 5 2-3 12. Totals 16 10-14 12.

Loogootee (29) - Mathies 1 0-0 2, Nelson 3 1-1 7, Wittmer 3 4-4 11, Wagler 3

0-0 7, Nonte 0 2-2 2. Totals 10 7-7 29.

3-point goals:  Washington 4, (Purdue 3, C. Garland),.Loogootee 2 (Wittmer,

Wagler).