After a string of five wins, the Paradise Panthers's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They took a 42-35 hit to the loss column at the hands of Ponder. Paradise was given a dose of their own medicine in this game as Ponder apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in December of 2023.
Several Panthers players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Morgan Mitschke, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds and two steals. Another player making a difference was Gazey Yates, who scored nine points along with three steals.
Paradise's defeat ended a 16-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 21-7. As for Ponder, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 23-7 record this season.
Paradise will be playing in front of their home fans against Whitesboro at 6:15 p.m. on Friday. Whitesboro will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Texas Rankings (they are ranked 655th, while Paradise is ranked 271st). As for Ponder, they will head out on the road to challenge Pilot Point at 5:45 p.m. on Friday. Pilot Point has now lost 13 straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since December 2.
