After winning seven of its last nine games, the Mehlville Senior High School boys’ basketball team is marching its way up the Suburban West Conference standings.

The Panthers (11-8, 2-3 Suburban West) are in sixth place, a stark contrast to the team’s last-place finish last season. In fact, the Panthers have placed last in the conference standings for the past three seasons.

Mehlville head coach Andy Guethle credits his team’s recent success to his players’ commitment to the program.

“It’s a good feeling for our kids,” Guethle told the Call. “They’ve stuck with it and have worked really hard. You’ve got to give them all of the credit.”

On Friday, the Panthers had the surprise of having to play at Marquette after the bleachers at Mehlville Senior High School were deemed unusable. But that didn’t keep the Panthers from disposing of Marquette 62-51.

“Marquette is one of the top teams in the conference,” Guethle told the Call. “I thought we had some good match-ups with them, and we didn’t play out of our heads. We just played together as a team.”

The Panthers were led by Malcolm Crawford’s 15-point showing that included three rebounds. Crawford also recorded one assist in the senior guard’s 12th double-digit scoring effort this season.

“He did a really good job in the Marquette game,” Guethle said. “One of his biggest strengths is his shooting, and that helps our inside game out.”

Mehlville’s Aaron Alexander also scored in double figures with a 14-point effort that included 10 rebounds, two assists and one steal. The sophomore forward is averaging 7.2 points a game this season.

“Aaron has really improved this season,” Guethle said. “He’s playing the way that he can play and he really controlled the boards both offensively and defensively.”

Junior forward Carlton Washington racked up 11 points in the win over Marquette while also recording three rebounds.

“Carlton’s done a really nice job for us this year,” Guethle said. “He’s been attacking the rim and rebounding really well.”

The Panthers are back in action at 7 p.m. today — Feb. 8 — when they travel to Northwest for a conference showdown with the Lions. Northwest (14-8, 3-3 Suburban West) is coming off a huge 57-46 win at home last Friday against Lindbergh.

The win for the Lions sent shock waves through the conference as it knocked Lindbergh from being undefeated in the conference.

“This will be a big conference game for us,” Guethle told the Call. “Northwest is coming off a big win over Lindbergh, but this is a conference game that we feel we’ve got a chance to win.”

The game also will have a twist to it as Guethle will coach against his brother Matt.

“My brother and I are going to coach head to head for the first time,” Guethle said. “So it will be a good time.”