MCCOMB – It was Senior Night in the McComb gymnasium Fridaynight. It was the final regular season home game for thegreen-and-gold clad Tigers, as five young ladies and four gentlemenwere presented with roses and balloons between games of thisDivision 6-4A doubleheader.

These McComb seniors would not disappoint the overflow crowd asthey pulled off two impressive wins over Brookhaven, as both teamshave closed out their division schedules.

Senior Dandy Dozen guard Sheree Thompson pumped in a game-high19 points in leading the McComb Lady Tigers over the BrookhavenLady Panthers in a crushing 53-46 defeat. Thompson also provided 6rebounds, 6 steals, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots.

In the varsity boys game, senior forward Charlie Allen tossed in18 points as the McComb Tigers fought off a pair of 20-pointdeficits to defeat the Brookhaven Panthers 68-61.

Brookhaven defeated McComb in the preliminary JV boys game butadditional information was unavailable at press time.

Brookhaven travels to Meadville and takes on Franklin County,Tuesday. The JV boys game tips off at 5 p.m., followed by thevarsity girls game at 6. The varsity boys start at 7:30.

McComb 53, Brookhaven 46

McComb (25-3, 3-2) gained a measure of respect. The LadyTigers will finish third in the division with their losses comingagainst Crystal Springs and Terry.

“We will probably face South Pike in the tournament,”said Lady Tiger head coach Carolyn Whitehead. Whitehead wasreferring to the Division 6-4A Tournament, which is being held Feb.12-16, at Terry. Official tournament brackets will be drawn up onSaturday, Feb. 10.

Brookhaven (18-7, 4-1) laid claim to the divisionregular season championship and No. 1 seeding in the tournament,despite the loss.

McComb entertained a 12-6 lead after the opening 8minutes and led 34-17 at the intermission.

Brookhaven couldn’t get any offense going in the firsthalf.

“We did not play well in the first half,” saidBrookhaven head coach Ronald Gill following the game. “We did notshoot the ball well.”

The Lady Panthers mounted a comeback in the third.Brookhaven outscored the Lady Tigers 14-9 in the period but stilltrailed 43-31 entering the fourth quarter.

Brookhaven continued its scoring barrage in the finalstanza. Senior forward Nikki Blakely scored 5 consecutive pointsduring a short stretch to cut McComb’s lead to 6 points, 50-44. TheLady Panthers drew within 4 points, 50-46 on a basket by sophomorecenter Ayana Tillman with 45 seconds left in the game. That wouldbe the last of the scoring for Brookhaven.

McComb nailed 3 free throws in the final 19 seconds tosecure the win.

Blakely paced Brookhaven with 18 points, 12 rebounds and3 steals. Tillman added 16 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.Juliana Wallace added 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3assists.

McComb 68, Brookhaven 61

Brookhaven and McComb were meeting for the third time thisseason, with this game being the designated division test. Bothboys teams entertained division records of 2-2. Brookhaven beatMcComb 58-47 in a non-division matchup at Sinclair gymnasium, Dec.1. McComb returned the favor, defeating Brookhaven 65-54 in thefinals of the Brookhaven/Coca-Cola Classic, Jan. 20.

This game was full of miscues and miscalls.

The Panthers (23-7, 2-3) were the early aggressors in the firstquarter. Their game plan was to attack McComb’s 6-foot-9 center,Jackie Butler. It proved to be a worthwhile move. Butler picked uphis second foul with 3:15 in the period, sending him to the McCombbench for the remainder of the half.

Brookhaven’s defense picked up the pace, forcing Tiger turnoversinto points and the Panthers held a 22-9 lead; entering the secondperiod.

Panther senior guard Matt Fitzsimmons drilled a short jumperwith 3 minutes left in the first half to give Brookhaven a 20-pointlead, 33-13. Fitzsimmons and his teammates still enjoyed a 41-29advantage, at halftime.

“We had a pretty good first half, shooting the basketball,” saidBrookhaven head coach Preston Wilson.

McComb (20-8, 3-2) would get a big boost from Butler. Seeing hisfirst action since the opening period, Butler knocked in 2offensive rebounds for 4 points; the latter cutting McComb’sdeficit to 6 points, 41-35. Butler scored his sixth point of thegame at the end of the third, to bring the Tigers within 3, 49-46,entering the final stanza.

“We did not do a good job containing Butler in the second half,”added Wilson. Butler only scored 6 points in the game, but hispresence on the floor was a decisive factor in the outcome.

The Panthers committed several turnovers in the opening momentsof the fourth.

McComb tied the game at 49-49, as senior guard D.J. Carr dialedlong distance with a trey. After a Panther timeout, CarlosWeathersby canned a short jumper to give McComb the lead at 51-49.The Tigers led by as many as 11 points, 62-51 with 2:07 left on theclock.

Carr led all scorers with 23 points, while Weathersby pumped in14.

Brookhaven finally regained its shooting touch. A layup by CoreyBryant, a pair of free throws by Maurice Brown and a banked 3-pointbasket by Lazeric Perkins brought the Panthers within 63-58 with 53seconds remaining in the game. Bryant led the Panthers with 12points.

McComb answered by hitting 5-of-6 from the charity stripe in thefinal 25 seconds to seal the win.

@Bbstandings:GIRLS

McComb 53, Brookhaven 46

McComb (53) Sheree Thompson 19, Dillon 7, Wynne 5, Young5,

Barnes 4, Brown 3, Felder 3, Martin 3, Johnson 2,Perkins 2.

Brookhaven (46) Nikki Blakely 18, Tillman 16, Gilmore 5,Stanton 5, J.

Wallace 2.

Total Fouls: McComb 16, Brookhaven 14. Fouled Out:None.

Technicals: None.

Free Throws M-A: McComb N/A, Brookhaven9-16.

3-point goals: Blakely.

BROOKHAVEN 6 11 14 15 – 46

MCCOMB 12 22 9 10 – 53

BOYS

McComb 68, Brookhaven 61

McComb (68) D. J. Carr 23, C, Allen 18, Weathersby 14,Butler 6,

Sibley 5, Landrews 2.

Brookhaven (61) Bryant 12, Brown 9, Dixon 9, Middleton8, Autman 7,

Fitzsimmons 6, Caston 5, Perkins 3, Washington2.

Total Fouls: McComb 14, Brookhaven 26. Fouled Out:None.

Technicals: None.

Free Throws M-A: McComb 13-28, Brookhaven10-14.

3-point goals: Middleton 2, Carr 2, Weathersby 2,Caston, Dixon, Perkins.

BROOKHAVEN 22 19 8 12 – 61

MCCOMB 9 20 17 22 – 68