\ - Aljazeera News Today

\

Posted by author January 25, 2025 Basketball

Spread the love

NEW FRANKLIN — No more proof is needed.

Northwest is clearly the best boys basketball team in the PAC-7. No one will be surprised if head coach Mike Lower and his players are celebrating a league title in a week or so.

Northwest beat Manchester 68-53 on Friday to take firm control of the PAC-7 race. With a win, the Panthers would have grabbed a share of the league lead. Now they are two games out with four league games left.

“To win on the road in this league and beat the second-place team at their place, that’s huge,” Lower said. “If you want to win the league, you’re going to have to do those types of things.”

No one from the PAC-7 has found a way to beat Northwest (11-4, 8-0). The closest call was a 10-point win at Triway last week. Manchester lost by 13 at Northwest last month.

Northwest led the rematch 36-17 at halftime and was up by as many as 26 in the third quarter.

“It’s a really good acoomplishment for our team,” junior guard Tristan Pennington said. “We’re rivals. We really showed them how well we play as a team. There’s a lot of moving the ball together. We all play together. That has really connected us and helped us with our chemistry.”

Northwest could not have played much better in the second quarter. Lower’s team outscored Manchester 17-5.

Pennington, Carsen Nickey, Chase Badger and Caleb Hyrne combined for Northwest’s five 3-pointers in the second quarter. Hyrne hit two in the quarter on his way to a 13-point night.

“We’re at our best when we’re moving the ball, finding the open man and shooting the best shot available,” Lower said. ” … We have so many weapons. That’s a strength for us.”

Pennington was a force throughout the night. He threw down a couple of dunks in an 18-point second half and finished with 25 points and nine rebounds.

“I kind of just took over,” Pennington said. “Things needed to get done, so I got it done.”

There was a bit of urgency for Pennington and his teammates in the second half. Manchester quickly cut Northwest’s 26-point lead to 51-39 at the end of the third quarter. The Panthers (9-5, 6-2) could not launch a big threat in the final eight minutes.

“I wasn’t happy with that stretch my any means,” Lower said of Manchester’s third-quarter run. “We took some quick shots, some bad shots, and they got some transition points. When you’re in control, you can’t do that.

“Then we refocused, handled the ball and did a nice job of closing it out at the end.”

Malachi Cintron scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half for Manchester.

No matter what happens elsewhere, Northwest needs two wins to wrap up a share of the PAC-7 title and three to win the league championship outright. A share of the title could be earned by the end of next week. Northwest hosts Tuslaw on Tuesday and Orrville on Friday.

“We’re just trying to take it day by day, game by game,” Pennington said. “We’re just focused on the next game ahead.”

Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com

On X:@mpopovichREP