Loogootee Lions advance to the Regional Championship on Saturday afternoon, their first in seven years

A capacity crowd was on hand at Jack Butcher Arena on March 4 as the Loogootee Lions squared off against Barr Reeve under a sold-out crowdPhoto byLoogootee Lions Athletics

Loogootee Lions basketball has advanced to their first regional championship since the 2016-17 season, making it the first in school history under the new IHSAA regional championship format.

This is as the Lions are set to face off against the Northeast Dubois High School Jeeps at 4 p.m. at Jack Butcher Arena in Loogootee, Ind.

Loogootee is riding high on Friday night's smackdown victory over the Barr-Reeve Vikings 46-28 as Loogootee went on a hot shooting run to end the night under a capacity crowd at their home court of Jack Butcher Arena. The following day, Saturday, March 4, the Lions beat the Orleans Bulldogs 41-34 to win Sectional 63 during the IHSAA Class 1A Sectional making it their first sectional victory in seven years.

On Saturday, Orleans trailed all through the first half, but by the end of the third, the Bulldogs scored 24 points matched by Loogootee’s 19, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Lions on their home turf with one of the most home-field advantages across the region.

Loogootee scored 41 points but almost left their foot off the gas with the second half coming to a close. There were no recorded player stats available, but Orleans’ Rylan Crocker had 10 points for a 60% field goal average and Xavier Alston scored 13 points, a team-high for the game, with a 57% field goal percentage from behind the arc.

Loogootee’s crowd could be standing room only for their regionals match between Northeast Dubois. The IHSAA wants attendees to not bring any distractions such as flags or posters to the game, and show cooperative sportsmanship on and off of school grounds and including in the game itself.

You can stream the game on The Razor 94.5 FM WRZR online at razor945.com or listen to the game regionally on the West Washington High School live stream on IHSAATV.org.

The game following the Loogootee/Northeast Dubois matchup will be the New Washington High School Mustangs out of New Washington, Ind., going in at 13-13 with a 4-1 conference record, they will square off against Rock Creek Academy out of Sellersburg, Ind. who have a 10-14 record and a conference record. That game will tip off around 7 p.m. at Jack Butcher Arena in Loogootee.