Coldwater gets key I-8 win over Pennfield in battle for first place

If you can win on the road in the highly competitive Interstate 8 Conference, you are going to give yourself a chance to win a league title.

Coldwater did just that by beating No. 7-ranked Pennfield, 55-43, in a basketball contest at Pennfield on Tuesday.

Here are five takeaways from Tuesday's game:

Life in the I-8

Over the last few weeks, the top teams have been matching up in the Interstate 8, leading to a crowded race at the top. Going into Tuesday's action, there was a four-way tie for first place in the league. Two of those teams played in this game with Coldwater remaining in a tie for first at 5-1 in league play. For the first since before last year, Pennfield dropped out of the top spot and is now 4-2.

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"It's a real talented conference ... those top four teams, they are all going to be there until the end and anytime you play one of those teams anything can happen. We we know, overall, anyone in the I-8 can beat anybody," Coldwater coach Aaron Bucklin said. "To get a win on the road, especially here in Pennfield, that's big."

Star Power

Coldwater prides itself on having a deep team. But the Cardinals are led by two four-year players. And it was that duo that came up big early to set the tone for the visitors.

The combination of Ethan Crabtree and Brandon Downs scored 23 of the first 28 points for Coldwater in what was a tight contest into the third quarter with the Cardinals up 28-27 with 5:19 left in the period.

The Coldwater depth then started to show as Brock Thornton hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the quarter as the Cardinals started to pull away at 45-36.

Crabtree would finish with a team-high 22 points and Downs had 14.

At the same time, Coldwater was doing its best to slow down Pennfield's two top scorers in Aiden Burns and Luke Davis, who had four points combined in the first half.

"We stole the game plan from Harper Creek, we all look at tape. We know this Pennfield team will go as far as Burns and Davis will take them, they are good players, and we had to slow them down," Bucklin said, recalling Harper Creek's win over Pennfield on Friday. "But we have some good players also and we had Crabtree and Downs come up big for us tonight and that's what we needed. We need our best players to be our best players."

Defending Pennfield

Making life tough on Pennfield's two returning starters from last year's state finalist team has increasingly become the strategy teams are taking against the Panthers — as Coldwater did focus on Burns and Davis most of the night.

Burns finished with nine points and Davis had four. However, Pennfield did get a good night from Graham Boyd, who had more than half of his team's points at halftime and finished with a team-high 20.

"Teams are going to take away those two and we will need that third or fourth guy to start stepping up for us. We saw that tonight with Graham and he had a great night," Pennfield coach Nate Burns said. "As we see better teams, more physical lineups, we are going to need to be a little more diverse."

What's Next?

Pennfield, now 7-2, is coming off its toughest stretch of the season, seeing the top contenders — Marshall, Harper Creek and Coldwater — in the league in back-to-back-to-back games. Now, the Panthers get somewhat of a breather as they will go on the road to see a Hastings team that is winless in the league and a Jackson Northwest club it beat 70-38 the first time the teams met. The league tests continue for 6-1 Coldwater as the Cardinals will host Harper Creek on Friday as the Beavers remain in a tie for first place in the league.

What they said ...

Pennfield coach Nate Burns: "Pleased with the way we fought, the effort was there. Sometimes you lose to good teams and tonight was one of those nights."

Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com or 269-966-0678. Follow him on Twitter: @billbroderick.

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Coldwater gets key I-8 win over Pennfield in battle for first place