PAINESDALE – Jacob Witt proved to be too much for the Jeffers Jets to handle Friday night in Copper Mountain Conference boys basketball play.

The 6-foot-7 Ewen-Trout Creek sophomore center dominated inside in his team’s 72-48 victory.

JHS coach Duane Snell said that Witt, who totaled 28 points, 17 rebounds and five blocked shots, posed all kinds of problems for his squad.

“He (Witt) is an agile kid, he moves well without the basketball and can really get up in the air,” the Jeffers coach commented. “He’s very impressive.”

Panthers’ skipper Brad Besonen said the E-TC coaching staff has been emphasizing that Witt become more offensive-minded.

“He drew a lot of fouls on them (Jets) early in the game and kind of put them in foul trouble,” Besonen noted. “He’s got a lot of offensive skills and we’d like him to use them more often.”

Now 11-2 on the season and 6-1 in conference play, the Panthers had to fend off the pesky Jets in a competitive first half.

“Jeffers did some things in the first half, they were beating us off the dribble,” Besonen said. “But we used our zone press and that sort of threw them off. The kids were really hustling and creating some turnovers. A good all-around effort by everyone.”

Witt’s four short-range four staked the Ontonagon County team to a 13-8 first quarter margin.

The Green and White picked up the pace in the second frame behind the outside shooting of Nathan Maki.

They were down only 20-16 midway through the second stanza before the Panthers embarked on an 11-5 closing run to lead 31-21 at intermission.

“I thought we kind of self-destructed at the end of the half and in the third quarter,” Snell said. “Of course, they’re a good team and good teams will do that to you.”

A 29-13 edge in the third quarter built the E-TC lead to 60-34 with a quarter left and pretty much settled the issue.

The winners had very good balance, five players hitting double figures.

In addition to Witt’s huge game, Austin Berglund netted 12 points and Eli Nordine and Jack Boro tossed in 11 apiece.

Landon Maki had a solid game with 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Panthers dominated the boards by a 40-25 margin.

“I liked our balance tonight,” Besonen said. “We’re going to need that as we get deeper into the season.”

Nathan Maki, who nailed five triples, topped the JHS scoring parade with 17 points.

Jake Connors and Caleb Maki split 16 more points. Bradley Jenkins grabbed 10 rebounds to lead in that category.

The Panthers will travel to Dollar Bay next Tuesday night.

Jeffers hosts Houghton the same evening.

Ewen-TC 13 18 29 12 – 72

Jeffers 8 13 13 14 – 48

EWEN-TC — Nordine 11, Berglund 12, Witt 28, Boro 11, Maki 10. FT: 16-27; Rebounds: 40 (Witt 17); Fouls: 9; Fouled out: None; 3-point FG: Nordine 3, Berglund 1.

JEFFERS — C. Maki 8, Nicholas 2, N. Maki 17, Wood 5, Connors 8, Jenkins 6, Jeter-Hughes 2. FT: 2-2; Rebounds: 25 (Jenkins 10); Fouls: 18; Fouled out: None’; 3-point FG: N. Maki 5, Connors 2, Wood 1.