Notes, observations and other thoughts about basketball played at 38th and Central...

Men's Basketball – 89-83 loss vs. Waubonsee
Takeaways from Saturday
Got to love the passion the 2023 Panthers play with. They were diving for loose balls like a Skyway Conference title was on the line. 

While Morton College enters the Region IV playoffs on a three-game losing streak, the sixth-seeded Panthers (16-13) won't be an easy out. Nor will their road to the Region IV finals in Rock Valley be an easy one.

Morton College opens on the road at Bryant & Stratton in a 7 p.m. contest Thursday, March 2nd, in Wisconsin just outside the Milwaukee area. The Bobcats (24-6) are 19th in the latest NJCAA Division II poll.

Eight of Morton College's losses are by six points or less. The Panthers are 1-2 in games decided by a point with a Veterans' Day loss to the Bobcats and NJCAA Division III national qualifier College of DuPage.

Skyway respect
While the Panthers finished 5-9 in the Skyway to place fifth in the eight-team circuit, the opposing coaches gave Morton College some respect when it came down to all-league honors.

Sophomore guard Manny Rodriguez, who battled through some injuries during his two seasons at Morton College, earned all-Skyway First Team honors.

Sophomore forward Matas Deksnys, second in the Skyway with 46 three-pointers, received Second Team honors.

Honorable Mention accolades went to sophomore guards Kyren Gardner and Xavier Spencer, and freshman center Amir Gause.

Four in doubles
The Panthers had four players in double figures with freshman Kedric Anderson scoring a career-high 21 points. His back-to-back three-pointers chopped Waubonsee's seven-point lead to one at 70-69 with 5:14 left, but that's as close as the Panthers came.

Gardner's late-season emergence continued with a 19-point effort. Deksnys added 15 and Spencer, 13. Spencer ignited the Panthers a 7-0 lead 71 seconds into the contest with a steal and basket and a three-pointer.

Rodriguez just missed cracking double figures with nine points. His three-pointer late in the first half gave the Panthers their final lead of the contest at 35-33.