The Panola Men's Basketball opened their 2018-2019 season with a record of 2-1. On Thursday, November 1, the Ponies defeated Jarvis Christian JV with a score of 95-53. The Ponies balanced scoring attack (6 players scored more than 9 points) was led by Freshman Kamari Brown with 16. Lenell Henry gave the Ponies 13 points and 7 rebounds off the bench. Reserve Franklyn Penn led the team in rebounds with 10.
The Ponies then travelled to Dallas for two games in the prestigious East/West Challenge. On Saturday, November 3rd, they faced the Bulldogs from Clarendon. The Ponies lead all 40 minutes in that game on their way to a 93-87 victory. Panola had great balance offensively with six players reaching double digit scoring. They were led by Jeff Boyd's 18 points (4-5 from 3), Tylan Dean, Tariq Simmons and Lenell Henry all had 14 (Henry also led the team in rebounding with 11). Keiondre Jefferson had 12, and Franklyn Penn chipped in 11 points of bench.
In their 3rd game of the week, the Ponies came up short against defending National Champions and current #2 Ranked South Plains. After leading at halftime 37-34, the Ponies ran out of gas in the second and fell 79-64. Panola was led that game by another double-double effort by Lenell Henry with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Tariq Simmons had another nice game offensively scoring 14 points. Other Ponies in double figures were Keiondre Jefferson and Joel Vaiangina with 12.
The Ponies return home for a 4 game home swing beginning November 7th at 7:30 PM vs Louisiana Christian. They will also host home games on Friday November 9, Saturday November 10, and Monday November 12.