Panthers devour Holiday Classic field to prove Daviess County is a contender
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Daviess County won Holiday Classic; Moss scored 33, Watkins 30 with 13 rebounds
- Panthers beat No. 11 Caverna, No. 6 North Laurel and No. 20 Boyd County
- Male won King of the Bluegrass; Bryan Station's Owens passed 2,000 points mark
Last March, Daviess County made its first trip to the Boys’ Sweet 16 state tournament since 2011 and got rewarded with a first-round draw of Great Crossing, the 11th Region champion that featured Mr. Basketball and now Kentucky Wildcat Malachi Moreno.
The Warhawks blistered the Panthers 69-37 on the way to their first state crown.
Daviess County returned to Lexington this week for the White, Greer & Maggard Holiday Classic tournament determined to prove it can make its way back to Rupp Arena. And the Panthers don’t intend to be anyone’s first-round fodder this time.
“You need to be dominant just like they were. They didn’t really play with their food,” Daviess County senior point guard Jonathan Moss said of the lessons learned from Great Crossing last season. “Last year, we drew them, but teams might draw us this year, and we want to be the dominant team. Teams have got to worry about us.”
Led by Moss and fellow senior DeAaron Watkins, Herald-Leader preseason No. 10 Daviess County pulled away to an 86-78 win over No. 20 Boyd County in Tuesday’s Holiday Classic championship game at Lexington Catholic.
Moss, a 6-foot, three-star guard expected to one of the leading candidates for this year’s Mr. Basketball award, scored 33 points with six assists on the way to tournament most valuable player honors in the win. Watkins, a 6-8 senior forward who should raise his profile significantly this season, scored 30 points with 13 rebounds, seven on the offensive end.
“He’s the most important player in the state,” Daviess County coach Neil Hayden said of Watkins. “What he does sets our offense. Him and J are a lethal combination together, and they’re best friends. They’re just both a joy.”
Boyd County led 40-37 at the half after an up-and-down first two quarters that featured eight made 3-pointers from the Lions and four from the Panthers.
But after Malachi Payne’s 3-pointer in transition put the Lions up 49-48 with 3:19 in the third quarter, Daviess County answered with a 13-2 run capped by an offensive rebound and 10-foot hook shot from Watkins that put the Panthers up 61-51. Boyd never recovered.
“It was our defense. That won us the game,” Moss said. “The first half we weren’t doing too good, but the second half, we did way better. We capitalized on their mistakes.”
Michael Acton also reached double figures for Daviess with 18 points. Payne led Boyd County (7-4) with 27 points and seven assists. Jacob Spurlock scored 16 points, Gunnar Woods 12, Clark 11 and Caleb Rimmer 10. But the Lions could not keep pace with the Panthers’ offense. Daviess County shot 59.3% from the field to Boyd’s 41%.
“We can figure out different ways to win,” Hayden said. “We needed to rebound better four games ago. Then we didn’t shoot it well. Last night, we shot it well. And then tonight, we needed to figure out how to close the game and deal with some adversity, coming back down after being down at halftime.”
Daviess County (11-2) survived a holiday tournament that featured nine Herald-Leader preseason top 25 teams and took down No. 11 Caverna, No. 6 North Laurel and No. 20 Boyd County in a three-day span. It also defeated No. 4 George Rogers Clark in Winchester on Dec. 6.
The bulk of the 3rd Region schedule lies ahead. The Panthers know it won’t be easy.
“We’re ready to fight,” Watkins said. “We’re ready to play the best and compete.”
Notes from the first month of the season
There have been some surprises and milestones in Kentucky boys high school basketball in December.
Male ascends: Herald-Leader preseason No. 8 Male (10-2) captured the King of the Bluegrass holiday tournament crown earlier this month and beat No. 3 Covington Catholic, No. 2 Frederick Douglass and No. 1 St. Xavier to do it. That makes the Bulldogs a near-lock for No. 1 when the Kentucky High School Boys Basketball Elite 16 Media Poll comes out next month.
Early 11th Region clash: No. 5 Madison Central fell 70-59 to St. X in the King of the Bluegrass semis but knocked off No. 2 Frederick Douglass 72-61 in the third-place game on Dec. 22. The Indians (11-1) and Broncos (7-3) meet again Jan. 23 in Richmond. Jake Feldhaus is averaging 21.5 points and 13.7 rebounds per game for Madison Central. DeMarcus Surratt is going for 21.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game for the Broncos.
Slipping: Preseason top 25 teams that figure to rank lower in the upcoming media rankings include No. 6 North Laurel (8-4), No. 7 Bryan Station (6-4) and No. 9 Ballard (7-3), which just recently got the eligibility of Male transfer and Western Kentucky commit Cole Edelen approved.
Tates Creek letting 3s fly: The Commodores (8-4) set a school record with 29 3-pointers in a 115-89 win over Adair County on Dec. 19. That’s the second-most points in school history. Tates Creek has chucked in 140 3-pointers on 387 attempts in 12 games, making them at 36.2%. Its next home game is Jan. 8 against Bryan Station.
Amari Owens’ points chase: Owens, Bryan Station’s senior point guard, recently topped 2,000 points for his career. Through Monday’s win over Caverna, he has 2,092 points, placing him 10th among Lexington’s all-time boys high school basketball scorers.
Owens just passed former Defender and current Woodford County coach Jaron Brown (2,066 points) for that spot. Next up is Lexington Catholic’s Demetrius Green at 2,144 points.
The modern-day Lexington public school record is 2,455 points by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Taveion Hollingsworth. Ahead of Hollingsworth for the overall record are Lexington Christian’s Kyle Rode at 2,517 and old Lexington Dunbar’s Julius Berry at an even 3,000 points, according to KHSAA records.
This story was originally published December 31, 2025 at 12:25 AM.
