The Pipestem Christian Academy Panthers have been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They fell 57-48 to Grace Christian on Thursday. Pipestem Christian Academy lost against Grace Christian in their previous head to head back in February of 2023, too, but the margin this time around was much wider than the 62-45 score last time.
Despite the loss, Pipestem Christian Academy still got an impressive performance from Silas Mattox, who scored 21 points along with nine rebounds. Those 21 points set a new season-high mark for him. Trey Mattox was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with five assists and five steals.
Grace Christian's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jonathen Holderby led the charge by dropping a double-double on 14 points and 16 rebounds. Holderby is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he's now pulled down eight or more in the last five games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Asher Cicenas, who scored 12 points.
Pipestem Christian Academy's loss ended a seven-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 6-2. As for Grace Christian, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 4-4 record this season.
Pipestem Christian Academy will head out on the road to face off against Auburn at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Auburn has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 197 points over their last three contests. As for Grace Christian, they will stay at home for another game and welcome Tolsia at 7:30 p.m. on January 5th. Hopefully Tolsia focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 13 on Thursday.
