Paden City saw their season come to an end on Tuesday night, March 1, in Cameron, as the high powered Dragons dominated in every phase of the game to claim an 83-26 victory.

The Wildcats had trouble scoring all night long and were plagued with multiple turnovers, while being held to only five points in the first half and none in the second quarter. The Dragons were up 48-5 at the break and extended the lead to 70-13 after three quarters, before pulling the starters for the final eight minutes. Trevor Berseford led the way for the Dragons with 24 points, eight which came in the first quarter including the games opening points on a slam dunk. The 6’7” all-state center also dominated the boards with 16 rebounds. Backing him on the night was Lance Hartly a 6’4″ forward who netted 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The Wildcats never had a double figure scorer, but were led by seniors Shane Anderson with eight markers, Brandon Hizer with a pair of 3’s for six points, and Ashton Howard with five including a three pointer. Anderson and Hizer each added six rebounds. Paden City finished the season with 5 wins.

Coach Dave Riggle said, “for the first time in my coaching career I can look in that locker room and know that all eight of those guys were fully 100 percent committed. From day one, they were locked in. Wins are great but that’s all you can ask for. They would do anything for each other and they worked hard for a common goal. Obliviously that goal is more than five wins but I’d rather have that than a bunch of guys that are half in and get 18 wins.”

“We have two foreign exchange students that will be gone next year and they are great kids,” Riggle said. “We also have three seniors and two of them have been with me since sixth grade in Shane Anderson and Brandon Hizer. Four years is hard enough so seeing these boys go is heartbreaking but I’m excited to see them go off and do great things in Life.”