Zach Yost tallied eight points to lead the Paden City Wildcats Jan. 15, but that wasn’t enough to get past Beallsville, who posted a 46-29 win on the Blue Devil home court.

The Blue Devils fell behind 9-5 after eight minutes of play, but went on to score 14 points, while holding the Wildcats to six to secure a 23-11 lead at the break.

Paden City tallied 18 points in the second half, but the Blue Devils put the game out of reach, scoring 22 to gain the nod.

Josh Bennett followed Yost with six points, while Matt Barker came off the bench to score five points and Taylor Still chalked up four points. The rest of the ‘Cat scoring came from Malakai Anderson and Peyton Hinkley with two each, while Geoffrey Bidwell and Jamie Billiter made free throw each. Hinkley hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds, while Yost accounted for eight boards.

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The Paden City Wildcats couldn’t overcome an 18-0 deficit at Bob Burton Gymnasium Jan. 12, despite outscoring Bishop 46-38 the rest of the way in a 56-46 loss.

The ‘Cats missed their first 11 shots and turned the ball over 14 times, while falling behind 18 points in the first seven minutes of the game. And, after the slow start, the ‘Cats made a game of it by out-hustling, out- rebounding and outscoring their guests the final 25 minutes.

Malakai Anderson was at his best, knocking down 17 points and hauling in 12 rebounds, while adding four assists, three steals and one blocked shot. Josh Bennett followed with 16 points, including a trio of baskets from beyond the arc. Taylor Still and Peyton Hinkley teamed for 10 points, and 19 rebounds, while Zach Yost was held to three points.

After turning the ball over 14 times in the game’s opening eight minutes, the young Wildcats only had 12 TOs the rest of the game, while out-rebounding the taller Donahue squad 46-42.