The Paulding Panthers suffered their biggest defeat yet this season on Thursday. They suffered a rough 56-36 loss at the hands of Ayersville. While losing is never fun, Paulding can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Ohio basketball rankings (they are ranked 397th, while Ayersville is ranked 75th).
Despite the defeat, Paulding saw an underclassman step up: Kayleigh Dunham scored seven points along with seven rebounds and two blocks. Ameah Carr was another key contributor, scoring six points.
It was another big night for Taylor Craft, who dropped a triple-double on 13 points, 23 rebounds, and 13 blocks for Ayersville. Craft is absolutely dominating the rebound category: she's posted at least eight every time she's taken the court this season. The team also got some help courtesy of Kendra Waldron, who scored 15 points along with two steals.
Paulding now has a losing record at 4-5. As for Ayersville, the win for they keeps them at an undefeated 10-0.
Paulding will look to defend their home court on Saturday against Bluffton at 1:00 p.m. Hopefully Bluffton focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 23 on Thursday. As for Ayersville, they will head out on the road to square off against Holgate at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The timing isn't great for Holgate: they have been struggling with four straight losses at home, while Ayersville has snatched up six consecutive wins on the road.
