Panthers Grind Out Win Over Olivet to Stay in GLAC Title Hunt

The Stockbridge boys’ basketball team GLAC title chances come down to Tuesday night after grinding out a 41-35 win over Olivet Friday night.

The Panthers travel to league leading Perry Tuesday night for a chance to move in to a tie for first place with the Ramblers. Perry leads the GLAC with a 10-1 record, while the Panthers and Leslie are right behind with 8-2 records. If the Panthers win they will have to win at Lakewood Friday night to share the GLAC title. A loss and Perry will win the outright conference title for the second year in a row.

Chris Hall had another big night as the offense struggled most of Friday night.

Hall scored seven points as the Panthers and Eagles were tied at 13 after one quarter.

Both teams struggled in the second as the Panthers outscored Olivet 9-7 behind four points from Noah Robidou for a 22-20 halftime lead.

The struggles continued in the third with Hall scoring eight of the Panthers 10 points. The defense continued to clamp down on the Eagles allowing only four points and extending the lead to 32-24 after three.

Stockbridge struggled from the line all night as they hit just 13 of 29 free throws, including just 3 of 10 in the fourth as they couldn’t quite put the game away as Olivet hung around outscoring the Panthers 11-9, but it wasn’t enough.

Hall finished with a game high 20 points to lead the Panthers.

Robidou and Jeremy Pilch chipped in with six points each. Tylin Ayers added five points, while John Morris and Brandon Nelson two.

Stockbridge improved to 11-5 overall on the season.