Alli Bertozzi

When passing through Brilliant, just before they stopped at Jefferson County Christian, the Paden City Lady Wildcats picked up on the name and applied it to their game.

It resulted in their second win of the season, as they defeated the Royals Jan. 10 51-37 to improve to 2-7.

Paden City jumped out to a 16-8 lead in the opening quarter and would not relinquish it. JCC outscored the ‘Cats 12-11 in the second to cut the deficit to seven at halftime.

In the second half, Paden City won both quarters by scores of 11-8 and 13-9 en route to the win, despite going 22 of 49 from the charity stripe and shooting 28 percent from the floor.

Alli Bertozzi scored a game-high 16 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to add to her Mid-Ohio Valley leading total in the winning effort.

Courtney Conaway

Courtney Conaway had a strong game as the only other Wildcat in double figures with 12. Shauna Durant scored nine points, followed by Amber Palmer and Amanda Tallman with five points and Dominique Craft with four.

Defensively, Paden City played a strong game with 15 steals, five of them coming by way of the senior Durant. The ‘Cats played the glass well, also, pulling down 47 total rebounds. Tallman pulled down 10.

The win came after a difficult loss to Cameron at home Jan. 6, despite playing them close for the initial part of the game.

As if taking on the Dragons wasn’t a tough enough task on its own, the Wildcats were without two starters.

Still, once the clock hit zeros at the end of the first quarter, the number for both teams’ score was the same at eight.

Bertozzi scored from underneath the basket on the assist from Durant to start the second quarter, but it would be the Lady ‘Cats’ only field goal in the period as the Dragons started to heat up.

From there, Cameron would score 17 straight points that separated the visitors into a comfortable lead. During a large portion of that time, Bertozzi sat on the bench with three fouls.

The situation didn’t get any better for Paden City to start the second half. Cameron went on a 10-2 run to go up 35-13. Paden City would later make a charge by scoring 16 points the rest of the third quarter, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Dragons went on to win 67-35.

After a strong first quarter with five points and five rebounds, Bertozzi was limited by the Cameron defense the rest of the way as she totaled 13 points.

Durant added 10 and Conaway added nine. Craft scored two and Palmer added a point to round out the scoring.

Against Bishop Donahue Jan. 13, Paden City again stayed close for the first quarter, but were doomed after an unpleasant second.

The Lady Bishops were up 6-5 after the first eight minutes. Paden City would answer the No. 3 ranked team in the state by going back up 9-8 early in the second. However, a 19-0 run by the hosts changed the key of the song for the Wildcats.

Once again, it took the wind out of Paden City’s sails as the Bishops remained undefeated, improving to 10-0.

“We tried to set the tempo and it worked for a little while, but we just couldn’t hang with them,” said Coach Kelly Sine.

Bertozzi finished with 12 points for Paden City. She was the only player for the ‘Cats in double figures. Craft and Durant both score three points, while Sasha Newson, Amy Toman, Conaway, and Tallman each scored two.