The Wolverines sure played like a team with revenge on their mind Friday night.

Westfield had three different runs of 10-0 or better to send a message with a dominant 62-40 victory over the Panthers in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 game at Westfield Academy & Central School.

“I don’t know that it was three or four runs that they had. I think the run was the first through the fourth quarter,” said Panthers head coach Ed Nelson after the game. “They put it to us tonight.”

Westfield (10-5, 5-2) scored 10 straight points to end the first quarter, 16 straight points late in the second quarter and 10 straight points to start the fourth quarter.

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Panama’s Brandon Keefe, middle, splits Westfield defenders Chris Vacanti, left, and Carter Russo, right, during Friday’s CCAA Division 2 West game in Westfield.

“It came together there, some of the stuff we’ve been looking for the entire season,” said Wolverines head coach Nolan Swanson.

Panama (9-2, 5-2) held an early 8-6 advantage before Westfield’s first big run closed the first quarter to put the hosts ahead 16-8.

After the first two-plus minutes of the second quarter were scoreless, the Panthers got on the board first with a 3-pointer by Carter Brink. But Westfield responded with the next 16 points, highlighted by an 8-0 spurt over less than 30 seconds, including a turnaround jumper through contact plus the free throw from Chris Rotunda, as well as a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup off a steal by Carson Swanson.

At the end of the first half, the Wolverines led 32-13. The gap never got less than 15 points the entire second half.

“I told my guys before the game even started, ‘We’re going to try to get better tonight. We’re not going to win a state championship tonight playing Westfield, and we’re not going to lose one,'” Nelson said. “Obviously things didn’t turn out the way we wanted them to tonight, but I think there is a pretty good chance we might see these guys again down the road at JCC.”

After a game-high 39 points in the last meeting between the two teams, Carson Swanson was held to 15 points on Friday. He came in averaging over 27 points per game to lead all of Section VI. The sophomore filled the stat sheet in other ways with seven assists, five steals and four rebounds.

The Wolverines had balanced scoring with four players in double figures. In addition to Swanson’s 15 points, three bigs for the Wolverines reached double digits in points, while two of the three had double-digit rebounds, as well. Aaron Fuller had 14 points, Rotunda had 13 points and Chris Vacanti had 12 points. Fuller also had 15 rebounds and Rotunda had 11 rebounds.

“We knew we had a height advantage against Panama. A lot of the things we’ve been working on is getting the ball in there,” said Nolan Swanson, who noted Fuller and Vacanti both missed the last matchup with Panama due to illness. “We knew we needed them. They are a big part of our team every game, but they really wanted to get into this one and put their stamp on it.”

Panama was led by Brink and Hinsdale with 10 points apiece. Alex Barmore had 6 points and 11 rebounds, while Tate Catanese had 6 points and seven rebounds. The Panthers only managed 13 points in the first half and scored 22 points fewer in the game than the last time the two teams met.

“Credit to (Westfield) — their defense made us shoot a very low percentage. … They did a great job closing out on our guys and making it tough for us to score,” Nelson said. ” … Sometimes you have one of those games you just need to throw the game tape away.”

Up next, Panama travels to Pine Valley for a nonleague game on Monday. Westfield’s next game is next Friday at Sherman in league action.

PANAMA (40)

Roth 1 0 3, Hinsdale 3 2 10, Keefe 0 0 0, Brink 4 1 10, Catanese 3 0 6, Mescall 2 0 5, Barmore 3 0 6, Vicente 0 0 0. Totals 16 3 40.

WESTFIELD (62)

Strang 2 2 6, Russo 1 0 2, Tuah 0 0 0, Swanson 5 5 15, Ormsby 0 0 0, Vacanti 5 0 12, Rac 0 0 0, Larson 0 0 0, Rotunda 6 1 13, Fuller 5 4 14. Totals 24 12 62.

3-point goals–Roth, Hinsdale 2, Brink, Mescall, Vacanti 2.

Panama 8 5 15 12 — 40

Westfield 16 16 12 18 — 62