Basketball Game Preview: Paint Valley Bearcats vs. Zane Trace Pioneers

Paint Valley hasn't had much luck against Zane Trace recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Paint Valley Bearcats are taking a road trip to take on the Zane Trace Pioneers at 7:00 p.m. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Paint Valley is headed into the matchup after thoroughly thrashing Adena: they outscored them in every quarter. Paint Valley strolled past Adena with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 49-30. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Bearcats.

Paint Valley can attribute much of their success to Carson M Free, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and ten boards, and Jase Rinehart, who almost dropped a double-double on 13 points and nine rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Braylon Robertson, who posted eight points and five assists.

Meanwhile, Zane Trace faced Southeastern in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Friday. Zane Trace enjoyed a cozy 49-34 win over Southeastern. The Pioneers' victory was nothing new given the team hasn't lost yet this season.

Paint Valley better focus on containing Gunnar Mccullough and Grady Stewart as the pair were huge in Zane Trace's win. Mccullough went 6 of 7 on his way to 19 points in addition to eight boards and three blocks, while Stewart went 7 of 10 on his way to 19 points along with six rebounds and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Ezra Rippeth, who put up five points and five rebounds.

The win got Paint Valley back to even at 2-2. As for Zane Trace, they pushed their record up to 6-0 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road.

Paint Valley came out on top in a nail-biter against Zane Trace in their previous meeting back in February, sneaking past 61-59. The rematch might be a little tougher for Paint Valley since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.