Basketball Preview: Continental Pirates vs. Paulding Panthers
The Continental Pirates will look to defend their home court on Saturday against the Paulding Panthers at 1:00 p.m. Continental comes in still looking for their first win of the season.
Last Saturday, Continental was the victim of a tough 45-23 loss at the hands of the Rockets. Continental was down 38-12 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Meanwhile, Paulding lost to the Apaches at home by a decisive 59-44 margin on Thursday. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Paulding in their matchups with the Apaches: they've now lost four in a row.
Despite their loss, Paulding saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Kayleigh Dunham, who scored six points along with six rebounds and four blocks, was perhaps the best of all. Tori Schlatter was another key contributor, almost dropping a double-double on 12 points and nine rebounds.
Continental dropped their record down to 0-17 with that defeat, which was their sixth straight at home. That rough patch could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 18.2 points per game. As for Paulding, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-9 record this season.
Continental didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against the Panthers in their previous meeting back in January of 2023, but they still walked away with a 44-40 victory. Will Continental repeat their success, or do the Panthers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
