JASPER — A dream season came to an end for the North Daviess tennis team as the Cougars fell in regional semifinal action to the Jasper Wildcats 5-0 on Wednesday.

A day after rain washed out Tuesday’s scheduled semifinals, North Daviess (22-2) found the going rough against perennial power Jasper (11-4). Only Logan Wagler at No. 2 singles was able to claim a set for North Daviess, though Wagler fell to Jasper’s Sam Werne 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in a match that lasted 90 minutes.

North Daviess coach John Mokris knew his team would have a tough time against the Wildcats, who have won 28 boys tennis sectional championships. The Cougars were making just their second regional appearance and first since 1992, though North Daviess didn’t back down from Jasper at any position.

“It took us a little while for us to get our feet wet. I figured when we got things going a little bit, we would be able to compete a little bit. And all of my singles competed well. Logan took a set,” said Mokris. “But when you come down here, it’s just another level. I got a couple of scouting reports on a couple of these guys, and I thought maybe we could pull out a couple of matches. But it would have been tough to find a third one.”

At No. 1 doubles, Thomas Nugent and Blake Burkhart fell to Chris Campbell and Tanner Niehaus 6-0, 6-1. The North Daviess No. 2 doubles team of Austin Lengacher and Tyler McDonald suffered their first loss of the season by a 6-2, 6-2 score to Jeff Seng and Sam Charron.

Blane Lawyer played well at No. 1 singles but dropped a 6-3, 6-3 match to Jasper’s Sam Rumbach. At No. 3 singles, Jasper junior Ryan Hodell easily won the first set 6-0 over Lewis Nugent — the lone freshman in an otherwise senior-dominated ND lineup — before Nugent rebounded to fight hard in the second set, though Hodell still picked up the point for the Wildcats with a 7-5 win.

Thus ended an incredible season for the Cougars — North Daviess won a pair of regular season invitationals, were Southwest Indiana Athletic Conference and Loogootee Sectional champions, and set numerous team and individual records. And Tuesday’s loss did nothing to diminish those accomplishments.

“It’s been a wonderful season. These guys have been all business like since we started in August. They’ve come ready to play, and they accomplished several things this year,” said Mokris. “I can’t say too much about tonight. They gave me everything that they had. We knew it was going to be a tough test. It’s just been a fantastic season.”