By Mark Schafer | The News-Review
PACKWOOD – They had one of the best players in their conference on their team, and that propelled them throughout the winter.
However, every single member of the 2025-26 Pekin boys basketball team contributed in one way or another as the Panthers were able to finish the season with a 19-5 overall record.
Leading the way for the Panthers was senior Cole Millikin, who not only was named to the SEISC first team list, he was also named the SEISC North, player of the year.
Henry Adam was also named to the first team All-Conference list. Alijah Brock finished on the second team All-Conference list. Nolan Glick and Riley Smith were both named to the SEISC honorable mention list.
Millikin was a big factor in every single game that the Panthers played in this weekend. Because of his ability to control the game Millikin was honored as the SEISC North, player of the year.
He was able to finish the season with 465 total points scored. He shot 44 percent from the field, and was able to hit 37 percent of his three pointers this year. Additionally, Millikin hit 47 of his 63 free throws.
He averaged 19.4 points per game. Millikin wasn’t just a scorer for the Panthers. He was also had 64 assists, which was the second-most on his team. He finished the year with 53 steals, the second-most on his team. He also had 85 rebounds, with 76 of those on the defensive end. the senior added one block.
Millikin led his conference in three pointers made this season. He was also top-five in the conference in terms of field goals made and points scored this season.
Joining Millikin on the first-team list is Henry Adam.
The junior season for Adam will be one to be remembered as he scored 214 total points. While that was only the fourth-most points scored on his team, Adam was a statistical leader in several categories.
Adam finished the winter with 163 total assists, which was second-most in the conference. He also had 99 steals this season, which did lead the SEISC. He also had 117 total rebounds, with 82 on defense and 35 on offense. He added five blocks.
A utility player in just about every description of the term, Alijah Brock made the second-team All-Conference list after finishing his junior year with 246 total points. It seemed whenever a play was taking place, Brock was involved in someway or another.
The junior had 222 rebounds, the most on his team. He pulled in 149 defensive boards while adding 73 on offense. He had a keen eye for the open player as he had 34 assists. Defensively, he was strong too, with 43 steals and 10 blocks.
Nolan Glick finished his senior year with 250 total points scored. He had 131 rebounds with 81 of those coming on the defensive end. He added 24 assists, 22 steals, and 11 blocks to be named to the honorable mention All-SEISC list.
Another senior, Riley Smith, was also named to the All-SEISC honorable mention list. Smith was able to finish with 126 total points. He pulled in 54 rebounds and had 28 assists. the senior finished with 23 steals.
Photos by Mark Schafer
