Wildcats get hot with win vs. Devils
Paden City’s boys basketball team battled the snow days by catching fire against the Beallsville Blue Devils Monday evening at the Bob Burton Gymnasium.
The Wildcats had one of their strongest shooting games of the season, hitting 32 of their 66 shots, equalling a 48.5 percent rate.
Coach Fred King’s crew scored early and often and put Beallsville down 21-9 at the end of one period of play.
It provided the cushion the ‘Cats would use the rest of the game to keep control.
“First, Beallsville ran a matchup zone on us and we had a little trouble at first,” sad King.
“But we finally started moving some people around, started hitting the seams, opening up some nice shots, and then we had our way.
“It was a rough start because we didn’t play a game since Jan. 23, which is 10 days. I told them good teams make those adjustments and they did.”
While the Blue Devils heated up in the second scoring 20, Paden City kept their offensive production and topped the visitors with 24 for a 45-29 halftime lead.
The double-digit separation allowed Coach King to sub in an out because of the brutal schedule thanks to make up games this week. The Wildcats will play five games total in six days.
“We had a pretty good first half, we were up and I moved the players around because I had to save some,” King stated.
The third quarter was the lowest offensive output for both teams combined as they scored only 26 points, but action picked back up in the fourth with both teams combining for 39.
Despite Paden City being outscored in the bottom half, the Wildcats still won by a comfortable 76-63 advantage.
Ryan Thoburn led both teams with 21 points and was followed closely by Ricky Wright, who netted 20 for the Wildcats. Thoburn additionally had three steals while Wright had five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Malakai Anderson and Wes Cosper both reached double figures in points with 15 and 12 points respectively.
Anderson tallied a double-double with 12 assists and added five steals. Cosper led the team with six boards.
Chris Loy added two points and both Zach Yost and Ronnie Blatt scored two to round out the Wildcats.
Wes Cosper didn’t score any points but led the team with six rebounds.
Jordan Darby and Luke Lucas paced the Devils with 16 and 14 points.
Paden City’s overall record improves to 9-4 while Beallsville dropped to 3-9.