Lady Wildcats win; Wildcats fall short at Magnolia

MAGNOLIA – El Dorado's varsity girls won their second game in a row Saturday, beating Magnolia 59-53. The Lady Wildcats improved to 3-3 with their second win in as many days.

The shorthanded Wildcats fell short in the boys' game 71-51.

The Lady Wildcats, who beat Camden Fairview on Friday, were led by Lauren Nelson with 15 points while Charalyn Rester netted 12. Lindsey Lockhart contributed nine with Kalese Moseby and Braylee Johnson chipping in with seven and six, respectively. Eight Lady Cats scored in the game.

“This game was competitive down to the final horn and almost every one of our players scored,” said Coach Jae Kell. “Magnolia made a run, but our girls remained focused to come out with a good team win.”

In the varsity boys' game, Magnolia's Derrian Ford scored 29 points to lead the defending champion Panthers.

Isaiah Ramey countered with 21 points for the Wildcats, who slipped to 2-4 on the season.

“We played hard in a tough environment, just failed to get to the rim offensively at times,” said El Dorado coach Jimmy Porter. “We got into a little foul trouble but continued to play through it. We allowed too many middle drives early. I thought we did well on defensive transition and limited easy buckets for the most part. Offensively we were not attacking the rim and settling for tough shots. This allowed them to get momentum and increase the lead. “Overall, we will grow from this game.” Jarmel Love added 12 points for El Dorado, which was missing six players due to COVID. Toronto Dunn and James Hartsfield chipped in with eight and six, respectively.