Lady Panthers Rally Past GLAC Leading Leslie
With over half the GLAC schedule remaining, to say Friday nights rivalry game against Leslie was a must win for the Stockbridge girls basketball team might be a reach, but it was pretty close.
The Panthers badly needed a win over the GLAC leading Blackhawks and a furious fourth quarter rally did just that as Stockbridge rallied from seven points down to defeat Leslie 39-35 Friday night.
Leslie entered the game at 3-0 in the conference, while the Panthers were stun by Lansing Christian 49-48 Tuesday night to fall to 2-1. A loss to the Blackhawks would have put them two games behind in the standings.
The big rally lifts the Panthers into a three-way tied for the conference lead with Leslie and Lansing Christian with 3-1 records in the GLAC.
The Panthers could not buy a basket for nearly three quarters. Time after time good shots were taken, but rolled off the rim as Stockbridge struggled.
Stockbridge hit just one basket in the first quarter, but Leslie was not much better as the Blackhawks led 7-5 after one quarter.
Leslie went on a run to start the second and built a 21-9 lead, but the Panthers went on a 7-0 run to end the half and cut the lead to 21-16 at the break. Brooklyn Rochow keyed the run with two big put back baskets for the Panthers.
Stockbridge continued to struggle in the third as Leslie outscored them 7-5 to take 28-21 lead after three quarters.
Shots finally started to fall for the Panthers in the final period when they needed them the most.
After hitting just one basket in the first three quarters, Gwen Rogozinski caught fire in the fourth, scoring ten points as the Panthers rallied to take the lead.
The game went back and forth for a couple of minutes, when Grace Hall and Chelsey Asquith hit big free throws to give the Panthers a 36-35 lead with under a minute remaining.
After a Leslie miss, the Panthers called timeout. Following a timeout, Rylee Tolson went to the line and sank probably two of the biggest free throws of her career to give the Panthers a 38-35 lead with 20 seconds left.
The Blackhawks missed a shot and after a foul Rogozinski hit one of two free throws with five seconds left to seal the win for the Panthers.
In spite struggling for most of the night, Rogozinski finished with a team high 15 points thanks to her huge fourth quarter.
Hall finished with nine points and Rochow seven huge first half points when the Panthers struggled the most. Madison Mazuca and Asquith finished with three points each, and Tolson her two monster free throws in the final minute.
The Panthers improved to 7-3 overall. They travel to Perry Tuesday night and host Lakewood Friday in two key GLAC contests.
