Notes, observations and other thoughts about basketball played at 38th and Central...
How about this for a T-shirt? Morton College men's basketball: Not for the faint of heart.

The Morton College faithful has been diagnosed with "Panther Palpitations" brought on by a pair of comebacks for the ages in its last two Skyway Conference wins. 

The Panthers trailed Lake County by 8 with 3:38 left in regulation before forcing overtime and winning 89-82 on Sophomore Night February 5th and then making up a 16-point halftime deficit by outscoring Skyway leader Waubonsee 56-34 over the final 20 minutes for an 86-80 victory February 10th.

It left a heartbeat to Morton College's chances of defending its Skyway title as Panthers (7-4) are two games behind Waubonsee (9-3) with three to play.

Kevin Cathey Jr.'s steal prevented Lake County from getting off a game-winning shot at the end of regulation. Cathey, Jordan Brooks and Stanislav Toderasco combined for all 14 of Morton College's points in overtime, shooting 6 of 8 from the floor.

Cathey finished with career-highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds to go along with 6 assists. Brooks added 21 points and 5 assists, while Zion Young and Danny Thompson both had 12 points. Toderasco kicked in 11 points.

The Panthers again had five players in double-figure scoring to take down Waubonsee. Morton College mounted its comeback with four freshmen on the floor in Thompson, Young, Jyson Kim and Javerion Banks and just one sophomore in Brooks.

Brooks and Thompson both had 19 points with Thompson scoring 16 points in the second half. Young turned in his sixth career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Kim notched his first double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Banks added 10 points.

Tale of two halves
In Morton College's last 8 games, the Panthers have only entered halftime ahead once. However, the Panthers are 7-0-1 in the final 20 minutes over that stretch outscoring their opponents, 368-294.

The Panther line vs. Waubonsee:
1st half
10 of 36 FG, 27.8%
1 of 10 3-point, 10%

2nd half
24 of 40 FG, 60%
6 of 10 3-point, 60%

Women's basketball
Getting to the line
Niema Adams continues to excel in getting to the free-throw line. Her 193 trips are the second most in Region 4, only behind Rock Valley's Amaden Montijo's 196.

Three-point threat
Isabel Rodriguez-Valencia has taken over the team lead with 32 three-pointers. The freshman guard is 15 of 33 from 3 in her last 3 games.

Good start
Morton College got off to a good start against Waubonsee. The Panthers were down 17-14 after the first 6 minutes before Waubonsee took control. Morton College's 18-point opening stanza was the Panthers' best effort this season since scoring 19 on Daley back on November 8, 2025.