Jessup Higgins drives to the basket.

It was a shootout in Paden City on Saturday December 14 as the Paw Paw Pirates came to town to tackle the Paden City Wildcats in boys basketball action. Pirates Sophomore Donovan Tunouye led the way scoring 39 points for the victorious Pirates. Paden City was not without their own scoring machine as Jessup Higgins would lead the Wildcats with 33 points in a losing effort dropping the contest by the score of 82-57. The Cats fell behind early trailing 23-12 after the first quarter and 47-29 at the break. The Cats tried to comeback in the third but were unable to match the scoring of the Pirates. In addition to Tanouye’s 39 points, fellow back court mate Marshall Carder contributed to his team’s total with 26 points. Jessup Higgins would get support from teammate Brayden Neff’s 13 points but no other Wildcat was able to hit double figures.

The Wildcats will again be home on December 21 when they play host to Beallsville, Ohio. The Cats will finish 2024 with games on the road at Montcalm and Mt. Hope Christian on December 30 and 31st.