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

When Dre Nobles' quest for a seventh straight double-double ended when he unexpectedly fouled out with 12:50 left, Morton College doubled down to defeat Waubonsee 69-60 February 18th at home and move into a share of the Skyway Conference men's basketball lead with the visiting Chiefs.

Morton College's 10-point lead against the country's 12th-ranked team doubled into one of 20 at 63-43 after Adrian Anderson knocked down a three-pointer.

But it was the two-point game that got the Panthers humming as Ethan Norman (12 points, 8 rebounds) crashed the offensive glass and Kevin Cathey Jr. (17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals) relentlessly attacked the rim. While the Panthers were a nightmarish 4 of 28 from three, they were 23 of 36 from two for 64 percent.

While Anderson cooled off after scoring 10 points in the first 6-plus minutes, the sophomore added two free throws and made a layup off a neat back-door cut during that run.

Nathanael Lewis matched a season-high 8 rebounds as the sophomore helped limit Waubonsee to a 38-32 edge on the boards.

The Skyway leaderboard
Waubonsee (26-3 overall) 11-2, one game left vs. Prairie State
Morton College (18-10 overall) 10-2, two games left vs. Lake County and Prairie State

No threes, no problems
While this was the second time Morton College has shot beneath 15 percent from three-point land this season, the Panthers have won both times. Morton College was 2 of 17 for 11.8 percent against Milwaukee Area Tech, but the Panthers more than compensated by going 30 of 43 from two for 70 percent. 

10 in Skyway
This is Morton College's first 10-win season in Skyway play since 2019, the year of the Panthers' last conference crown.

Morton's Ironmen
Jordan Brooks played the entire 40 minutes, while Anderson and Cathey logged 39 minutes apiece.

Defensive masterpiece
The Panthers held Waubonsee to 32 points below its season average of 92.1 points per game in topping the Chiefs for first time since 2022. Waubonsee's 60 points was the fewest points the Chiefs put up this year since scoring 64 in a season-opener loss to Madison.

An end to Waubonsee's wizardry
The win over Waubonsee ended a five-game losing streak against the Chiefs. Morton College's last win came on February 12th, 2022 when Panthers posted a 101-63 decision. This also was the third longest losing streak in the Waubonsee series. During the Dave Heiss regime, the Chiefs beat Morton College 11 straight times from 1988 to 1994 and six straight times between 2005 and 2008.

Rush to record
If the Panthers can close out the regular season with victories over Lake County and Prairie State, Jon Rush becomes just the sixth coach in Morton College's 100-year basketball history to post back-to-back 20-win campaigns.

Rush would join Joe Ondrus (1947-48), Rick Kilby (1989-90), Tony Amarino (2002-03), Frank Lollino Jr. (2010-11) and Aaron Rolle (2018-19). Amarino's the only coach in Panther history with three straight 20-win seasons, doing it from 1997-99.

Final home game
Morton College's final regular-season home game is against Lake County at 6 p.m. Thursday, February 20th, in the Vais Gymnasium. A strong finish should guarantee the Panthers of hosting a first-round game in the Region IV playoffs.