Basketball Recap: St. Joseph Central Comes Up Short

The St. Joseph Central Irish lost to the Spring Valley Timberwolves on the road by a 68-50 margin on Saturday. The matchup marked the Irish's lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Grady Paynter

Points

01/10/26 @ Spring Valley	15
01/09/26 vs Teays Valley Christian	26
01/03/26 @ Notre Dame	18
12/30/25 vs Calvary Baptist Academy	21
12/29/25 vs Powell County	19

When it comes to explaining why St. Joseph Central lost, don't look at Grady Paynter. Despite the final result, he posted 15 points. The contest was Paynter's fifth in a row with at least 15 points. Another player making a difference was Micaiah Ehirim, who scored 11 points.

Spring Valley's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Harrison Riggs led the charge by dropping a double-double with 25 points and 16 rebounds. Those 16 boards gave Riggs a new career-high. Coleson Caldwell also deserves some recognition as he grabbed his first steal of the season.

This is the second loss in a row for St. Joseph Central and nudges their season record down to 4-4. As for Spring Valley, their victory was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-3.

St. Joseph Central didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, an 89-38 win against Lincoln County on the 14th. As for Spring Valley, they have also already played their next matchup, a 51-44 defeat against St. Albans on the 13th.