Friday night was opening night for Boys Basketball and Continental opened up by hosting Paulding. The Panthers won the tip and opened up the game with an 8 point run. Pirate Andrew Hoeffel put the Pirates on the board by hitting a 3 (the Pirates only 3 of the night). A Panther 3 (their third of the night to start the game) would be met with a Gavin Huff basket making it 11-5 Panthers. The Panthers would hit finish the quarter with hitting more 3s while the Pirates would get a Hoeffel free throw and a Bryce Recker basket to make it Panther 20-8 after one quarter. Recker opened up the second quarter scoring with a basket to make it a 10 point game 20-10. A Panther basket was followed by a Hoeffel basket to make it 22-12 Panthers. A Panther free throw and basket was countered with a Pirate basket by Huff 25-14 Panthers. The Panthers would put in another 3 to make it 28-14. Alex Sharritis would put in the last basket for the Pirates of the half to make it 28-16 Panthers. The Panthers would close the half with a 8 point run to make it 36-16 Panthers at half. The Panthers would out score the Pirates by 6 in the third quarter to make it 52-26 after 3. A 14-9 Panther fourth quarter win make it a 66-35 final.
Continental was led in scoring by Gavin Huff with 12 points while Andrew Hoeffel put in 9 points. Alex Sharritis scored 5, Bryce Recker 4, Braxton Stegbauer 3 and Hunter Tegenkamp 2. Hoeffel hit the only 3 for the Pirates while Paulding put in 12 three-pointers.
Continental falls to 0-1 and will host Lima Temple Christian on Saturday. Paulding improves to 1-0.
–Mike Jones, Sportswriter