Double trouble

And he banked it in.

As Thomas ran back on defense, he lifted his palms to the ceiling and shrugged his shoulders at the Wolverines’ faithful in the bleachers.

“That’s the way it was going for him,” Westfield head coach Nolan Swanson said.

Because Thomas, who finished with eight 3-pointers for 24 points, had plenty of help in the Wolverines’ 77-55 victory over Panama in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 basketball game.

Carson Swanson throws down a dunk.
OBSERVER Photo by Scott Kindberg

Carson Swanson scored a game-high 26 to go along with nine assists, six rebounds and three steals; Grant Beadle had 13 points and three blocked shots; and Zach Maguire added 12 points and pulled down 19 boards as Westfield shook off a slow start and dominated the final three quarters.

The win improved the Wolverines’ record to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the division, while the Panthers dropped to 2-1 and 2-1.

“It’s probably the most balanced scoring we’ve had in three years,” Coach Swanson said. “That gives me goosebumps to see that kind of result. We’ve talked a lot about effort, execution and production, and production happened for a bunch of guys who aren’t used to it. Hopefully, that carries on.”

Should Westfield continue to play like it did last night, opponents will have their hands full the rest of the winter.

Trailing 20-18 after the first quarter — Panama opened the game on an 11-2 run — the Wolverines gained their traction for good in the second period, highlighted by three treys from Thomas and a pair of buckets from Beadle, who was making his first varsity start.

Westfield’s Grant Beadle drives to the basket while being defended by Panama’s Jordan Mescall in CCAA Division 2 action on Thursday.
OBSERVER Photo by Scott Kindberg

By halftime, Westfield led 40-32.

The hosts closed to within four points, 40-36, in the first two minutes of the third quarter when Alex Barmore and Jordan Mescall scored on layups, but the Wolverines ended the period on a 22-10 run that essentially made the outcome a foregone conclusion.

During that surge, Carson Swanson had 10 points, including a pair of dunks; Thomas drilled a pair of 3-pointers; and Maguire nailed a shot from beyond the arc and converted a traditional three-point play.

As it turned out, that was more than enough.

“We had a game plan to try and slow Carson down … but they have some big boys over there in Beadle and Maguire on the low block and we had trouble on the boards tonight,” Panama head coach Ed Nelson said. “The other thing was (Thomas) popping all those threes. It kind of put us out of our defensive game plan a little bit. Especially in Class C and Class D basketball, usually a team doesn’t have five people out there like a scoring machine.”

Bryce Hinsdale led Panama with 13 points and five assists; and Carter Brink added 12 points, six assists and four steals.

“There’s no excuses, but I’ve had these guys for six full practices right now,” Nelson said of the short preparation time due to Clymer/Sherman/Panama’s run to the state football championship earlier this month. “They’ve been playing with a ball that’s a little different shape than a basketball. Our goal in the beginning of this thing was never to go unbeaen in December. We’re trying to look big picture. We’ll be alright.”

Westfield returns to action at 7:30 tonight when it takes on Ellicottville in the Southwestern Tournament. The Panthers meanwhile, will entertain Frewsburg on Monday.

WESTFIELD (77)

Paddock 0 0 0, BSwanson 1 0 2, Whitesell 0 0 0, Stein 0 0 0, Maguire 5 0 12, CSwanson 11 1 26, Thomas 8 0 24, Anderson 0 0 0, Stellhorn 0 0 0, Schuster 0 0 0, Tunison 0 0 0, Beadle 5 3 13, Totals 30 4 77.

PANAMA (55)

Barmore 3 1 7, Hinsdale 5 1 13, Mescall 4 1 10, Eggleston 0 0 0, Graves 0 0 0, Horton 0 0 0, Brink 6 0 12, Spiesman 1 3 5, Catanese 4 0 8, Burkholder 0 0 0, Rhoades 0 0 0, Totals 23 6 55.

3-point goals — Maguire 2, CSwanson 3, Thomas 8, Hinsdale 2, Mescall.

Westfield 18 22 22 15 — 77

Panama 20 12 16 7 — 55