CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Sports editor
Camden Fairview will travel to El Dorado for games tonight starting with the junior varsity girls at 5 p.m.
Both the Cardinals and Lady Cardinals are looking for their second conference wins after defeating Magnolia last Friday. The Lady Cardinals beat the Lady Panther, 31-22 while the Cardinals ran to a 60-37 win over Magnolia.
Both Camden Fairview varsity teams are 2-1 overall and 1-0 in blended conference play.
The Lady Cardinals were led by Jayla Jackson with 11 points against Magnolia. Anna Dawson followed with 9 and TaiSheka Porcia added six.
C.F. Head Girls Basketball Coach Johnny Jackson said his team had to play through distractions to win last week and that he knew the team would bounce back from its loss to Benton.
"If we were 3-0 we would've lost that (Magnolia) game," Jackson said. "Things happen for a reason. God knows what he is doing. We needed to get back to work. We didn't need to have the big head and think everything was okay. All of them played hard and that's what I wanted to see."
Jackson said he wanted his team to assert its self by being more physical in the lane and pressing the ball. The Lady Cards limited the Lady Panthers on defense by trapping at half court. Jackson said that he will throw in some half court traps against El Dorado tonight as well. Jackson said his team was also emotional after finding out it would have to play without one its starters just before game time.
"With all of the distractions, I was just proud of the girls' attitude and the way they came out. We are going to go through some things that are going to teach them some valuable lessons in life. This is a team where Jayla, Anna and Christiana Gibbs were the only ones who played a whole lot last year. There's a lot of new faces. That comes with working them hard, getting them ready to play and the talent is just getting better and better.
The Cardinal boys also bounced back from a rough game against a disciplined Benton team with a couple of great practices. C.F. Head Boys basketball Coach Josh Nix said his team picked up the intensity and was focused against the Panthers.
"A lot better focus," Nix said. "Lot better intensity especially that first half. I thought we came out with our heads on right and played a good ball game offensively and defensively."
Nix said one of the biggest changes from last week's loss to Benton to the win against Magnolia was the teams hustle.
"Liked the way our bigs rebounded for sure," Nix added. "Everybody rebounded well. I thought the bench came out and played a great game. Just a total team effort.
Nix said El Dorado reminds him a lot of the Cardinals and that he thinks it will be a good game.
"They (El Dorado) are real athletic," Nix explained. "Reminds me a lot of ourselves. So it'll be a good test for us for sure."