PINCONNING - Jan. 29, 2010 - From an eight-point first half to start the season, to a 59-54 upset on NEMC-leading Pinconning's home floor Friday night, the Standish-Sterling boys basketball team has come a long way this season.

"Obviously, we're playing much better as a team than at the start," said SSC coach Tom Murray. "If we hadn't, we'd probably be giving back all the (admission) money we collected at our games."

There likely weren't many refund requests this time around. The Panthers' Cole Walderzak and Lucas Foco punished each other inside for most of the game, but it was some heady play by Mitchell McFarland that swung the game SSC's way.

Pinny inched out to a 41-36 lead late in the third quarter, but McFarland hit a pair of 3-pointers that put SSC up 44-43 heading into the final frame. Another McFarland trey and an rebound put-back by Walderzak suddenly had the Panthers up 49-43.

"Mitchell McFarland had a fabulous game," Murray said. "It wasn't just the 3-pointers. Those were obvious, but they were more of a bonus."

Casey Pashak hit back-to-back baskets to get Pinny within two at 51-49 with four minutes left. Walderzak and Bobby Sanch followed with baskets sandwiched around a Foco free throw that made it 55-50. The final blow to Pinny's chances came when Foco and teammate Brandon Santos collided when defending an SSC inbounds play, leaving Derrick Williams to score on a five-on-three as the two Spartans lie dazed on the floor. Both later re-entered the game, but the seven-point margin was too much to overcome.

"We couldn't get a break, and it seemed like every loose ball they got to," said Pinny coach Tim Floyd. "They just played a little harder than we did tonight."

The loss ended the Spartans' 15-game NEMC win streak dating back to a 45-38 loss at SSC in the final game of the 2007-8 season, and also was the first loss for Pinny on its new home floor. Floyd said while the defeat wasn't the end of the world for his team, he hoped it serves as a wake-up call.

"I think we haven't been working as hard as we could be in practice," he said. " We've kind of been in cruise control. Maybe this will wake the guys up. We're still in control of our own destiny and we win next Friday (at Ogemaw) we'll be back on top."

The Spartans had one of their more balance scoring attacks of the year with four players in double figures: Foco with 19, Dylan Marquiss with 15, Travis Garbulinski with 11 and Pashak with 10.

But if there was one area that has improved for the Panthers this season, it's their guard play, which was the difference between Pinny's 28-point win in the season opener and the Panthers' victory on Friday.

"Everyone was saying this year that our guards were terrible," Murray said. "But they've been working hard. Tonight they all answered the call. Mitchell did some things that were subtly great. He knew the clock, the score, did a great job making decisions, played good defense and showed great leadership. But all our guards played well tonight."

Walderzak finished with a game-high 19 points, with Mitchell adding 14, Sanch scoring nine and Derek Williams nine. The Panthers improved to 8-4 (3-3 NEMC) with the win.

Pinny (9-3, 5-1) dropped into a tie for first place with Ogemaw Heights and plays the Falcons next week.

"I have great respect for Pinny," Murray said. "It took a monumental effort for us to beat them. On top of that Casey and Lucas have always been nothing but class."