By: Joe Shouse, Sports Writer
PAULDING – The Paulding Panthers and the Wayne Trace Raiders, both county and conference rivals, hooked up on the hardwood recently in what would be the opportunity to claim bragging rites for the winner. A solid start for the Raiders and a slow start by the Panthers helped propel the red, white and blue past Paulding 56-45.
Recently the Panthers claimed the GMC conference title and entered the contest unblemished at 6-0. The Raiders, although the chance for the title had escaped them, being able to hang a loss on the Panthers would have some satisafaction. The Raiders got their way thanks to the 33-point outburst by junior Brooks Laukhuf. The Raider sharpshooter connected on 5-8 from the two-point area, 5-7 behind the arc and a perfect 5-5 at the charity stripe.
Wayne Trace opened the first quarter with 15 points while Paulding managed just 8. Both teams battled even in the second frame with Wayne Trace holding a 30-23 advantage at the break. Scoring dropped off in the third fram with the Raiders putting up eight points to just four for the maroon and white. The 11-point Raider lead heading into the final period held up with both teams scoring 18-points each. With the win the Raiders close out conference play tied for second with Antwerp at 5-2.
The Raiders place four others in the score book with Kyle Stoller chipping in eight along with 11 rebounds. Senior Tyler Davis added seven points to go with 10 rebounds. Tanner Laukhuf finished with five and team mate Hudson Myers with three.
Paulding didn’t have any double-digit scorers but had balanced scoring with seven players scoring on the night. Nick Manz finished with nine, hitting 4-6 of his two-pointers. Peyton Adams and Isaac Reeb each added eight, followed by Luke Zartman (seven), Ethan Feltz (six) along with 11 rebounds, Casey Agler (five) and Kane Jones (two). The Panthers finish league play at the top with a 6-1 record and stand 12-7 overall.
