Basketball Game Preview: Lake Hamilton Wolves vs. Magnolia Panthers

After both having extra time off, the Lake Hamilton Wolves and the Magnolia Panthers will dust off their jerseys to take on one another at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Lake Hamilton will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak.

Last Friday, Lake Hamilton didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Sheridan, but they still walked away with a 46-41 win.

Meanwhile, Magnolia came up short against Warren on December 10th and fell 58-50. The loss was a bit of a surprise, as the Panthers came into the contest with a sizable advantage in MaxPreps' Arkansas basketball rankings (they are ranked 49th, while the Lumberjacks are ranked 201st).

Lake Hamilton pushed their record up to 7-4 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.8 points per game. As for Magnolia, their loss dropped their record down to 13-3.

Lake Hamilton was able to grind out a solid win over Magnolia when the teams last played back in December of 2023, winning 58-47. Will Lake Hamilton repeat their success, or does Magnolia have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.