Panthers first half spark leads to victory over Indians in conf. hoops
MAGNET COVE — For the featured nightcap battle Tuesday at Magnet Cove High School Gymnasium, the Magnet Cove Panthers maintained the spark early to surge by their rivals’ Poyen Indians 55-40 in their 5-2A Conference opener basketball match-up in senior high boys hoops.
The Panther triple-threat—Evin Ashcraft, Nathan Wetherington and Owen Tillery all posted in double-figures to lead Magnet Cove past the Tribe on their home territory in Panther Country. Ashcraft led all scorers as the game high-scorer by dropping 15 points and drilling four trifectas from downtown. Wetherington and Tillery each posted 13 points apiece. Wetherington hit two trey’s and Tillery blazed the net with one trey from behind the arc to soar the Panthers to a three-game winning streak.
Although the Panthers pulled away with a 15-point win, the “Fighting” Tribe came out competitively to battle tough. The Tribe’s Jaxson Carter led Poyen in scoring with a strong 11 points for double-figures.
For the first seven minutes of action, the Panthers opened the game coasting to a 17-7 advantage. For the remaining 21 seconds left to play in the first, the Tribe cut their deficit under double-digits, scored a bucket to beat the buzzer and trailed Magnet Cove 17-9 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second, the Panthers stormed out with a hot scoring display and outscored the Tribe 22-12. At the break, the Panthers had an 18-point lead over Poyen 39-21.
In the second half, the Panthers stayed in control and increased their margin with a 47-28 lead to end third quarter play—in the fourth, Magnet Cove accounted for eight points while the Tribe posted double-digit scoring with 12 points added to their side of the scoreboard.
Prior to this match-up, the Panthers came off their highest team scoring in their program by defeating Ouachita 91-26—for a 65-point victory—a possible franchise record under the direction of head coach Matt Williamson. Despite the Tribe’s tough defeat, they’re coming off their best season in their football programs and trying to get in hoops shape for the season.
The second conference meeting on the hardwood between these two rivals will take place in Tribe Country at the Jerry and Ouida Newton Arena—schedule January 21, 2021.