The Brookhaven Academy Cougar and Lady Cougars suffered tough loses in their home opener Monday night against the Simpson Academy Cougars in John R. Gray Gymnasium.

In the girls game, the Simpson Lady Cougars overpowered a very young BA Lady Cougars squad to secured a 52-20 victory.

In the boys’ contest, Simpson survived a fourth quarter rally by BA to escape with a 48-47 win.

In junior high action, Brookhaven Academy and Simpson secured a split decision as the Lady Cougars of Mendenhall won 21-15 over BA. In the boys game, BA thumped Simpson 37-23.

Brookhaven Academy resumes action Thursday as they prepare to travel north on Interstate 55 to Gallman to take on the Copiah Academy Colonels for five game. Game time starts with seventh grade action at 3:15 p.m., followed by junior varsity action and varsity.

Simpson 52, BA 20 

The Mendenhall-based Lady Cougars came out and quickly took care of business as they roared to an 19-4 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Simpson continued to take advance of the BA’s youth and outscored the Lincoln County-based Cougars 33-16 to secured the win.

“We are a very young team,” said BA girl’s coach Mack Gardner. “We have a few players starting players out due to injuries. This is a great opportunity for our younger girls to get the experience they need to get better and grow as a team.”

Sophie Wilson was the top scorer and rebounder for BA with nine points and five rebounds. Leah Case contributed five points and Anna K. Smith had four points.

Molly Shotts pumped in a game-high 24 points to led the Simpson Lady Cougars. Anna Grace Harvey contributed 15 points.

Simpson 48, BA 47 

In a heated rivalry, BA and Simpson provided a lot of excitement for their basketball fans. In the first quarter of action, Simpson stormed out quickly to gain a 20-14 advantage.

In the second quarter, BA rallied back to outscored Simpson 10-6 as the Mendenhall-based Cougars carried a slim 26-24 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Simpson controlled the third quarter with a 10-3 run to take a 36-27 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, BA stormed back and overpowered Simpson with a 20-12 run, but fell short at the end after hitting a shot to cut Simpson’s lead down to 48-47 as the buzzer sounded.

“The first quarter and third quarter starts killed us,” said BA boy’s coach Josh Watts. “Overall, I was very pleased with my guys with effort as they fought back and come close to winning the game.”

Caleb Brown poured in a game-high 20 points to lead BA. Peyton Hood provided 14 points and grabbed five rebounds. Drake Flowers netted 10 points and had five rebounds.

Ryan McElroy paced Simpson’s offense with 16 points. Sam McWilliams contributed 15 points and Jacob Berry had 12 points.

In junior high action,  the Simpson Academy Lady Cougars defeated BA 21-15. Madison Shows and Morgan Griffin led Simpson with six points apiece.

Cameron Watson was the top scorer for BA with seven points. Madalyn Oglesby provided 4 points.

In the boys contest, BA thumped Simpson Academy 37-23. Tate Felder paced BA with a game-high 12 points. Luke Jackson netted nine points.

Simpson was led in scoring by C.J. Jones with 11 points.