Fans at Friday's league challenge between the Petal Panthers (Petal, MS) and the host Northwest Rankin Cougars (Brandon, MS), saw Petal's basketball squad hold off Northwest Rankin by a tally of 59-52.

With the victory, Petal improves its record to 12-10 on the campaign. The Panthers travel to Germantown (Madison, MS) to play the Mavericks in a non-league challenge on Saturday, January 20. The Mavericks come into the challenge with a record of 7-12.

Next up, the Cougars play the Brandon Bulldogs (Brandon, MS) in a 7A Region 3 challenge, on Tuesday, January 23. Northwest Rankin will attempt to improve on its 6-15 season record. The Bulldogs come into the challenge with a 13-9 record after their 66-59 league win over Pearl (Pearl, MS).