Magnolia's Nevi Tell and Rodreous Young had 18 points apiece as the Class 4A second-ranked Panthers rolled past Arkadelphia 75-44 Friday night to remain unbeaten in 4A-7 Conference play.
The Panthers (15-1, 8-0 4A-7) will travel to Camden Fairview tonight for their second matchup with the Cardinals, who fell 43-40 Friday to Nashville after winning five consecutive games. Back on Jan. 6, the Panthers defeated the Cardinals 61-36.
The Cardinals currently sit in third place in the conference standing, behind the Panthers and second-place Ashdown, who has two losses. They are only a game ahead of Arkadelphia and Nashville.
During the Panthers' battle against the Badgers Friday, the game was back-and-forth at the start before Magnolia managed to lead 17-14 after the first break. The Panthers used a 9-0 run to build a 12-point advantage midway through the second quarter and led 33-24 at halftime.
A pair of 3-pointers by Tell help the Panthers dominate the third period as they went up by 27 points late in the quarter.
The lead stretch to 30 early in the final period as Magnolia settled for the 21-point victory.
Following Young and Tell in scoring, was Amare Roach with nine. Jase Carter and Ahmad Davis had eight apiece and Roderick Williams Jr. finished with seven.
Lady Panthers 47, Lady Badgers 45
Magnolia got a huge three-point play from Atesa Johnson with 7.4 seconds remaining to win 47-45. Johnson finished with 13 points, while Shayla Doss led with 17.
The Lady Panthers led by 11 early in the final quarter before the Lady Badgers fought back to go up by one, 45-44, with 49 seconds to play. Magnolia's Ariasia Martin missed a pair of free throws with 31.4 seconds left which would've tied the game.
Later, Johnson got the winning points to give the Lady Panthers the victory.
Magnolia, who will travel to Camden Fairview tonight, moved to 13-4 overall and 7-1 in 4A-7 Conference play. They are a game behind Nashville, who handed them their only loss in Conference.
Camden Fairview, who lost 50-41 to Magnolia during the first meeting, are currently tied for fourth place in the conference standings. Arkadelphia and De Queen both have three losses, while the Lady Cardinals share five league losses with Hope.