Basketball Recap: Clay County Comes Up Short

Clay County lost against Midland Trail back in December of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Clay County Panthers fell 53-44 to the Midland Trail Patriots. While the Panthers didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Patriots 14-10 in the first quarter.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Midland Trail to victory, but perhaps none more so than Payton Bailes, who went 8 for 20 on his way to 23 points along with six rebounds and four steals. Bailes' evening made it three games in a row in which he has scored at least 22 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Thad Brown, who posted 18 points and six boards.

Clay County's defeat dropped their record down to 5-10. As for Midland Trail, they have been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season.

Coming up, Clay County won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against South Harrison at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. South Harrison knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past four games -- so hopefully Clay County likes a good challenge. As for Midland Trail, they will square off against Summit Christian Academy at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.