The Paw Paw Pirates will head out on the road to take on the Pendleton County Wildcat at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Paw Paw scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Friday. They walked away with a 78-67 win over Hancock. Given Paw Paw's advantage in MaxPreps's basketball rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked 80th in West Virginia, while Hancock is ranked 308th in Maryland), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Paw Paw's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Donavan Tanouye led the charge by almost dropping a double-double on 34 points and nine rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which Tanouye has scored at least a third of Paw Paw's points. Ayden Crabtree was another key contributor, scoring 24 points along with two steals and two blocks.
Meanwhile, Pendleton County can now show off five landslide victories after their most recent match on Monday. They claimed a resounding 82-35 win over Harman on the road. While fans of Pendleton County might be used to big wins, the 47-point margin marked the team's biggest victory yet this season.
Paw Paw is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-6 record this season. As for Pendleton County, the victory makes it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 8-6.
Paw Paw was taken down by Pendleton County 81-46 when the teams last played last Wednesday. Can Paw Paw avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
