But what the senior guard lacks at the offensive end of the floor, he more than makes up for on defense.

Tasked with guarding Michael Horton, Section VI’s 11th-leading scorer, for much of the night, Signorino held the Panama senior to 19 points as Frewsburg beat the Panthers 49-45 in nonleague play Wednesday.

“Signorino is the glue. … He knows his role on the team. He’s easily one of the best defenders in the league. You can definitely notice when he’s on the bench it hurts our defense,” Frewsburg head coach Kyle Nelson said. ” … He does every little thing that a coach needs him to do: takes charges, rebounds, guards the other team’s best player … he’s all over the place.”

Surrendering at least 5 inches to Horton, Signorino was around Panama’s top scorer as much as he could be, even working around three first-half fouls and a fourth early in the third quarter. In fact, Horton did much of his damage while Signorino was relegated to the bench.

Frewsburg’s Trent Lewis goes for a layup as Panama’s Wyatt Eggleston, middle, and Mason Weber look on during nonleague boys basketball action Wednesday in Frewsburg. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“We always ask a lot of Mike. Down the stretch we have to have him scoring 20-plus, but we have to have other guys step up and score as well,” Panama head coach Josh Nelson said. ” … We need some other pieces to knock down some 3s.”

The Bears (7-9) held a 22-20 lead at halftime, despite being outrebounded 15-9 in the opening two quarters.

“We needed to crash the boards, especially on offense, because we’re going to miss a lot of shots,” Kyle Nelson said. “We ended up with 19 rebounds in the second half, which was huge.”

The Panthers (7-9) took a 32-29 lead late in the third quarter on a Brandon Hirsch bucket, but Trent Lewis and Isaac Hultberg scored on Frewsburg’s final two possessions of the period to take a 33-32 lead into the final eight minutes.

“I thought we rebounded relatively well, but they do a really good job of pursuing rebounds, whereas we just try to use our size,” Josh Nelson said. “That’s something for us that we need to make sure down the stretch we’re attacking the glass.”

Panama’s Kiedon Graves hit a free throw to tie the game at 36-all with 5:49 remaining. After a two-minute lull, the Bears’ Gavin Weaver made a driving layup to give his team a two-point lead.

Graves answered with a corner 3-pointer to give the Panthers a one-point lead before Hultberg scored to make it 40-39 with 2:31 left.

Horton followed with a bucket, but Weaver’s elbow 3-pointer found nothing but net as Frewsburg took a 43-41 lead with 2:07 remaining.

“Weaver’s been huge the last few games. We know he can score for us. He’s a guy that can come off the bench and put up an instant 10 points for us when he gets hot,” Kyle Nelson said. ” … Definitely two big shots for him. We know he can do it and that’s why he’s in there that late in the game.”

Horton’s putback at the one-minute mark made it 43-all, but Lewis answered with his third 3-pointer of the night to give the Bears the lead for good with 48 seconds left.

“He’s a gamer. He wants to win and he’s going to do whatever he can to win,” Kyle Nelson said of Lewis. “He does so much for us on the floor. When he’s hitting shots, he’s really tough to stop because then his defense gets going and he’s fun to watch.”

After the Panthers missed a 3-point attempt, Lewis tacked on a free throw, and despite Wyatt Eggleston’s long 2-pointer, Hultberg put the game away with a pair of free throws in the final 5 seconds.

“It was definitely a game I felt like we could’ve won. A couple of bounces didn’t go our way and we lost some people defensively,” Josh Nelson said. “Credit to them, they stepped up and made some big shots down the stretch.”

While the nonleague decision doesn’t impact either teams’ standings in their individual divisions, it does give them both a measuring stick for the upcoming Section VI postseason — Panama in Class D and Frewsburg in Class C.

“We know where we’re going to be matched up it’s going to be a close game no matter what,” Kyle Nelson said. “We bring it on defense every night. We know defense travels. If we get hot, we’re definitely a dangerous team in the playoffs.”

NOTES: Hultberg had 17 points, seven steals, four assists and four rebounds; Lewis had 16 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds; and Drake Beckstrom had nine rebounds for Frewsburg, which shot 20 of 56 from the field, including 4 of 15 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 15 times. … Horton had 10 rebounds and three steals while Konner Morgan had 9 points and 12 rebounds for Panama, which shot 18 of 51 from the field, including 2 of 14 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 25 times.

PANAMA (45)

Weber 1 0 2, Abers 0 0 0, Eggleston 2 0 4, Horton 7 4 19, Morgan 4 1 9, Horner 0 0 0, Hirsch 3 0 6, Graves 1 2 5. Totals 18 7 45.

FREWSBURG (49)

Cusimano 0 0 0, Weaver 3 0 7, Signorino 2 0 4, Lewis 6 1 16, Beckstrom 2 0 4, Hultberg 7 3 17, Pasieka 0 0 0, Munday 0 1 1. Totals 20 5 49.

3-point goals–Horton, Graves, Weaver, Lewis 3.

Panama 7 13 12 13 — 45

Frewsburg 12 10 11 16 — 49