Basketball Game Preview: Paulding Panthers vs. Montpelier Locomotives

Paulding and Montpelier are an even 4-4 against one another since December of 2016, but not for long. The Paulding Panthers will challenge the Montpelier Locomotives at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Paulding will be coming into the game with an undefeated record on the line.

While Paulding didn't have the best season last year (they finished 10-14), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They snuck past Tinora with a 51-47 win on Saturday. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 16th, while the Rams are ranked 133rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Paulding found their leader in sophomore Kayleigh Dunham, who went 10 of 14 on her way to 22 points and three blocks. The dominant performance gave Dunham a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Addi Pease, who posted eight points in addition to seven assists and six boards.

Meanwhile, Montpelier beat Evergreen 55-48 on Saturday.

Montpelier now has a winning record of 2-1. As for Paulding, they pushed their record up to 5-0 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home dating back to last season.

Paulding came up short against Montpelier in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, falling 48-41. Can Paulding avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.