It took the Manchester cagers nearly a half of season, but it looks like they finally got things figured out. The Panthers won for the third consecutive time Tuesday night routing host Kidron Central Christian 73-35 in a non-league game.
Eleven different players reached the scoring column led by Connor Mottice and Nick Miller with 17 points apiece.
The victory was the black and red's fifth in their last seven games improving their overall mark to 8-6, and 6-4 in conference play heading into Friday's battle against front-runner Canton Timken (after press deadline).
"We've been playing much better of late," said veteran head coach Gene Schindewolf. "We won three straight with two of those coming on the road. We're getting a lot of contribution from our bench.
"I feel that were moving in the right direction, and starting to peak, but were not quite their yet."
The Panthers played at a high level in their triumph over Central Christian jumping out to a 22-5 advantage after one. A Clint Miller field goal with 1:25 left in the second quarter gave them their largest lead of the half (34-12) before the Comets countered with back-to-back buckets to cut the deficit to 34-16 at the intermission.
"We got off to a pretty good start," said Schindewolf, "but we got a little sloppy with our play in the second quarter. We were able to get a big lead in the second half and get a lot of kids in the game, which is a nice reward for some of them who work hard in practice everyday."
Manchester would continue to pour it on in the third quarter outscoring Central Christian 16-10 opening a 50-26 lead entering the fourth. The Comets could get no closer in the final eight minutes of play.
Miller helped the Panthers to a 36-11 edge in the rebounding department with 11 boards. He also dished out a team-high four assists.
The black and red finished the night shooting 42 percent from the field (28 of 66), and 74 percent from the line (14 of 19), compared to Central Christian's 30 percent (12 of 40), and 67 percent (10 of 15).
Manchester also battled CVCA in recent action registering a 52-49 road victory on Jan. 29.
The win over the Royals gave the Panthers a sweep of the season series between the two schools. The black and red defeated CVCA 50-45 earlier this year.
Mottice scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter giving the Panthers a 20-11 cushion after one.
Manchester extended its lead to 24-13 at the half, only to see the Royals fight back to trimming the lead to two (34-32) early in the fourth quarter. However, the Panthers were able to hold on in a tight finish.
"We made some plays down the stretch to win" he said. "Connor (Mottice) was hot for us early. (Greg) Shoemaker came off the bench for 10, and we got our usual solid effort from Mark (Noble) with 16 (points) and 7 (rebounds). It was good win."
The black and red hit 15 of 50 field goal attempts (30 percent), and 19 of 28 free throws (68 percent).
Manchester will hit the road for a pair of games this week visiting Indian Valley on Tuesday, and Fairless on Friday.
Lady Panthers Extend Win Streak to 14
Manchester extended its winning streak to 14 games by pounding Indian Valley 57-30, Wednesday night in PAC-7 play.
The Panthers, who were rated 12th in this week's AP Division III poll, didn't have any trouble disposing the Braves as they led the entire route.
The ladies led 21-4 after one, 31-9 at the half, and 46-18 thru three.
Senior Amber Silver paced Manchester with 21 points, and 11 rebounds, while teammate Brooke Tabaka chipped in nine markers.
The victory improves the Panthers record to 17-1 overall, and 12-1 in conference play. They are currently tied for first place with Tusky Valley (18-1, 12-1), a 47-44 winner over CVCA, Wednesday night.
Manchester looks to clinch its sixth consecutive PAC-7 title on Wednesday as they travel to Wooster Triway. They will also hook-up with Orrville in their season finale at home on Saturday.
