It was a fairly typical first game of the season for both the Coal City and Gardner-South Wilmington boys basketball teams in the opening round of the Coal City/Manteno Thanksgiving Tournament.

In the end, the Coalers had Carter Nicholson on their side, and that was the difference in a 44-39 win over the Panthers. Nicholson scored a game-high 17 points, including a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter that put his team up 10 at 38-28, which was the biggest lead by either team all night.

“For a first game, it went pretty well,” Nicholson said. “We were able to move the ball around on offense. I wasn’t really looking to score, but I took the shots when they came to me.

“We communicated well on the court. A lot of us have been playing together since we were in fifth grade, so we know

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