Paden City wins over Union for first
Changes in strategies, game plans and line-ups have been shaking things up on the basketball courts of the Ohio Valley here late in the season in preparation for post-season play. Both the Paden City Wildcats and Tyler Consolidated Silver Knight varsity boys teams have made slight alterations on their own and continue to battle towards seasons end.
Wildcats
The Wildcats chalked up their first win of the long season on Feb. 8 when they not only put forth a great effort, but handed defeat to the Union team of Mount Storm, WV, 37-31.
The teams played to a 9-9 first period end, both keying on defensive plays and not allowing many trips to the hole. In the second period, Union added six points to Paden City’s five to take the slight lead at the half, 15-14. The second half started out pretty even, until the fourth period when the Wildcats shooting percentage shot up, scoring 16 while holding their opponents to eight.
Geoffrey Bidwell led the Wildcat scorers in the game, putting 15 points on the scoreboard. He also hauled in two rebounds, had one assist and two steals in the effort. Zach Yost scored 11 points pulled down five rebounds had one steal and three assists; Taylor Still chipped in seven points, had three rebounds and one steal; Trey Leonard scored two and pulled down seven boards; Jamie Billiter added two points and had two rebounds; and John Bates had one rebound and one steal.
The win over Union put the Wildcats at 1-18 at the season at this point of their season.
At home on Feb. 10 the basketball program at Paden City put on a triple-header, featuring the seventh and grade teams in the first two games and the varsity ‘Cats in the evening finale. Both middle school home teams won their contests, but the high school team fell to the tune of 50-41.
In a closely contested battle, the Dragons and ‘Cats were pretty evenly matched and played to a 10-10 tie after the first period of play. By half-time, Cameron pulled ahead to lead 22-19.
A slow five-point third period by Paden City cost them the game, even though they put together a 17 point fourth period effort. The Dragons wound up with the win, 50-41.
Yost scored 23 points for the home team, brought down four rebounds and had one assist. Geoffrey Bidwell scored six points, had six rebounds, one steal, and four assists; Drew Bidwell was credited with four points, two rebounds, two steals and five assists; Bates added three points and had one assist; Still totaled two points pulled down five rebounds and had one steal; Billiter, two points, two rebounds, one steal and one assist; and Leonard one point, three rebounds.
On Feb. 12, Paden City participated in the West Virginia Invitational Hometown, 16 team, tournament in Summersville, going up against the Montcalm Generals. In an excellent effort, the Wildcats forced the game to two overtime periods before the buzzer sounded to end the contest.
Trailing by five after the first period, the ‘Cats paced themselves and stayed with their game plan, but falling behind by 26-17 at the half. In the third period the ‘Cats defense stayed solid, holding the Generals to two points while adding 10 to their own side of the scoreboard. Regulation time ended with the two teams tied at 32, looking like the ‘Cats were well on their way to their second win of the season.
In the first overtime period, both teams added three points to their totals forcing another period of play, where the Generals topped the score with four while holding Paden City to one, taking the win, 39-36.
Yost scored 12 points in the game to lead the Wildcats and had 10 rebounds and four assists. Still, chipped in eight points, and had three rebounds and one steal; Geoffrey Bidwell totaled eight points, pulled down five rebounds, stole the ball once and was credited with one assist; Leonard, six points, 10 rebounds, three steals; Drew Bidwell, two points, six rebounds, six assists; and Bates, one steal.
Zach Yost was named MVP for the Paden City team.
Midland Trail was the overall winner of the WVIHT, defeating East Hardy 78-69.
Paden City will participate in the OVAC playoffs this week with their next scheduled game to be played on Feb. 21 at home against Clay Battelle.
Silver Knights
Wins have been difficult to come by as of late for the Silver Knights of Tyler Consolidated, with two losses in two outings last week.
On Feb. 5 the Silver played host to the Red Devils of Ravenswood, taking the loss, 69-38.
Scoring only three points in the first period of play put the home team at a severe disadvantage, forcing them to play catch-up for the rest of the competition. Though they came on strong in the fourth with a 16 point effort, it was too-little-too-late to make a difference.
Senior Corey Lowe, was the only Knight in double digits as he scored 21 points for the home team. He also pulled in eight rebounds. Fellow senior, Zack Knowlton, totaled six points, had seven rebounds, two assists, and three steals; Dylan Romine added three points, and had one assist; Evan Cline, chipped in two points, and had one rebound; Hunter LeMasters, was credited with scoring two points, pulling down three rebounds and one assist; Scott Sole, scored two, had three rebounds, two assists, and one steal; Darren Heintzman, one point, two rebounds, one assist; Skylar Kinnard, one point, three rebounds; Drew Casey, one rebound; and Boone Kehrer, three rebounds, four assists.
The Knights hosted Ritchie County at Tyler Consolidated on Feb. 8, again taking the fall when all was said and done, 63-33.
Consolidated fell behind in the first period, scoring only six to the Rebels 13, but were more justified in the second, scoring 14 to trail by only two at the halfway point, 22-20.
The second half played havoc with the Silver’s plans, as Ritchie bested them to take the win, 63-33.
Boone Kehrer led all Tyler Consolidated players in the game with 12. He also pulled down eight boards. Lowe had eight points, six rebounds, and two steals; Cline scored two points, had seven rebounds, and two assists; Heintzman, added two points, and had one assist; Casey put up two points, and grabbed two rebounds; Kinnard scored two and hauled in nine rebounds; Justin Carpenter was credited with two points, three rebounds and one steal; Knowlton added two points, had two rebounds, two assists, and two steals; Romine contributed one point, one assist, and had one steal; LeMasters, one rebound; and Sole, one steal.
The Silver Knights hosted Parkersburg Catholic on Tuesday and will play for LKC placement in the next week. The team will host Weir on Feb. 21.