Although Erie-Prophetstown was playing short-handed in Friday night’s Three Rivers East matchup at Newman, the upset-minded Panthers were threatening to hand the Associated Press Class 1A third-ranked Comets their second loss in three games.

But Newman’s depth helped make the difference as E-P ran out of gas down the stretch and the Comets won 63-54.

E-P (10-9, 3-4) was playing without leading scorer Connor Keegan, who was out due to illness while dealing with a shoulder injury, E-P coach Ryan Winckler said. Winckler said he should be back next week.

The Panthers led 15-14 after the first quarter and trailed just 48-45 after holding Newman (26-1, 7-1) to just eight points in the third quarter.

Then, Asher Ernst scored seven straight points to give Newman a 55-45 lead. The Comets outscored E-P 15-9 in the fourth quarter. Ernst finished with a game-high 16 points and John Rowzee added 12 and two blocks.

“I think we were lucky that they didn’t have their best player [Keegan], but I think we rebounded good in the second half,” Rowzee said. “We had three turnovers at half, that really helped us as well. We kind of brought the pressure back and we were able to cover the low post.”

Gus Schultz led the Panthers with 15 points and Evan Steimle had 13. Ethan Lavine added nine points and freshman Caleb Brown (nine points) hit a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter to help keep E-P in striking distance.

In the fourth quarter, E-P’s shots started to fall short and passes were intercepted.

Keegan averages around 16 points and is one of E-P’s top outside shooters.

“Being able to extend the defense really could have helped open up even more inside,” Winckler said. “I thought we attacked inside so well tonight, but just having our best shooter out there I think would have really helped.”

Newman had six players combine for seven 3-pointers in the second quarter, but E-P continued to battle, trailing 40-33 at halftime.

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Newman's George Jungerman gets past E-P's Evan Steimle. The Newman Comets hosted the Erie-Prophetstown Panthers in a Conference game. played at Newman High School on February 6, 2026. (Brian Hurley)

Newman coach Ray Sharp said E-P is coached well and plays hard, which makes them a tough out.

“And they execute really well,” he said. “They got really good stuff against our 1-3-1.”

After losing their first game of the season last week at Mendota, the Comets responded with a second straight win.

“We played really poorly that night offensively and defensively,” Sharp said. “I think it just made them understand we’ve still got to get better every night.

“If we don’t match their intensity, we’re going to get beat.”

“That kind of motivated us,” Rowzee said, “and we don’t want to feel that again.”

Newman can still share the conference title should the Comets and Trojans both win out. Mendota has games against Princeton, E-P and Kewanee left. Newman has Kewanee and Hall left in conference play.

Against E-P, Newman finished strong after a third-quarter lull.

“They have eight, nine guys they can rotate through and they’re so physical with the style that they play, up and down the court,” Winckler said of Newman. “We were just exhausted.

“Almost every one of our shots were short in the fourth quarter.”

Winckler was proud of the effort as the Panthers continue to show they can hang with good teams. His team will be battle-tested heading into the postseason with games against Oregon, Mendota and Byron to finish the regular season.

“I loved how we battled them all night long,” Winckler said. “That’s all you can ask out of your team.”

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Newman's George Jungerman gets past E-P's Evan Steimle. The Newman Comets hosted the Erie-Prophetstown Panthers in a Conference game. played at Newman High School on February 6, 2026. (Brian Hurley)