Returning Whitmer players make things tough on Trojans

TOLEDO – Toledo Whitmer's Antoine West Jr. and Andre Young III were not in uniform the first time the Panthers played Findlay.Friday night, both seemed determined to make up for lost time.West and Young, two of three Division I recruits on a deep and talented roster, combined for 12 of Whitmer's first 17 points and had 30 overall in a 79-38 win that kept the Panthers tied for first place in the Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division and on the cusp of claiming at least a share of the 2024-25 title.Now 11-7 overall, Whitmer is 5-1 in NLL-BD games and tied with Perrysburg (15-3, 5-1 NLL-BD) atop the standings. Whitmer has league games with Anthony Wayne (13-4, 3-2 NLL-BD) on Tuesday and at Sylvania Northview (8-10, 1-4 NLL-BD) on Feb. 18.Perrysburg, which beat Northview 55-42 on Friday, also plays Anthony Wayne on Feb. 18, then finishes the regular season at Findlay on Feb. 21.Ice-cold from the start, Whitmer actually trailed 4-2 almost three minutes into to the game. Young's basket triggered a 12-0 run, though, with West, a three-star recruit who turned down offers from Nebraska and Arizona State to sign with Purdue, knocking down one 3-pointer and Makhi Leach, who has signed to play at BGSU, hitting another.Leach, who led Whitmer in the absence of West and Young in that Dec. 20 win over Findlay, did so again. The 6-foot-3 senior guard erupted for 13 points in the second quarter and finished with 22. Young, a 6-2 junior had 18 points. West had eight of his 12 points in the first half when Whitmer built a 44-23 lead.Beck Garmong led Findlay with 13 points. BladeWendt and Cooper McKanna had eight each for the Trojans (1-16, 0-6 NLL-BD).McKanna, Garmong and Jed Scott helped Findlay end the second quarter on a bit of a run. Wendt's 3-pointer and two free throws highlighted another short rally in the third quarter, and Jayden Thompson and Garmong fueled another brief burst in the fourth.Whitmer aswered each one though, capitalizing on costly turnovers to steal Findlay's momentum and create some of its own."We were making some plays we've been working on in practice. We're seeing improvement there, but we need more consistency," FHS coach Ryan Grose commented after the game."There was a point where we made a slight run, then had five straight possessions where we turned it over. The game is 32 minutes, and we have to find ways to be more consistent."Whitmer's KeShawn Wood and Levi Bacon were also deadly for Findlay, with each hitting three 3-pointers. Bacon had 11 points off the bench; Wood finished with nine.Findlay is back in action today with a nonleague game at Elida. The contest will have an earlier start that usual, with the junior varsity game schedule to tipoff at 4 p.m.FINDLAY (1-16, 0-6 NLL_BD)Drew 2-0—4, Garmong 5-1—13, Wendt 1-5—8, Korkos 1-0—2, McKanna 4-0—8, Scott 1-0—2, Imke 0-0—0, Flowers 0-0-0, Thompson 0-1—1, Sadler 0-0—0. TOTALS: 14-7—38.WHITMER (11-7, 5-1 NLL-DB)Johnson 1-1—3, West 3-4—12, Leach 9-2—22, Young 7-4—18, Wood 3-0—9, Bacon 4-0—11, Hocanson 1-0—2, Shears 1-0—2. TOTALS: 29-11—79.Findlay 10 13 11 4—38Whitmer 22 22 27 8—793-POINT GOALS: Findlay 3 (Garmong 2, Wendt); Whitmer 10 (Bacon 3, Wood 3, West 2, Leach 2).