The Brookhaven Panthers used their senior experience Fridaynight to nail down a 62-46 Division 6-4A win over the youthfulLawrence County Cougars in Sinclair Gymnasium. Powering Brookhavenwith 18 points and five rebounds was senior forward FredMackabee.

In the varsity girls matchup, the Lady Panthers jumped out onthe Lady Cougars in the first quarter 16-3 and never let up ontheir way to a 71-30 victory.

“Lawrence County got after our tails,” said Brookhaven boys headcoach Dan Presley following the win. “Our intensity on defense wonit.”

The Panthers (8-1, 1-0) took control early for a 15-8 lead overthe Cougars (1-9, 0-1) in the first quarter. In second half action,Brookhaven outscored Lawrence for a 37-24 lead at the half.

Following a slow-down third quarter, Brookhaven took a 44-30lead over Lawrence in the final frame. The Cougars battled down thestretch cutting the deficit to 11 points twice but the Pantherscame back with big plays for the victory.

In the final minute, Panther point guard Brandon Caston was aperfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line and finished the game with17 points.

“I told Brandon to keep the ball in his hands,” said Presleywhen Lawrence went to fouling in the final minute of play. “I knewthey would foul.”

“We played well enough defensively to win,” said Lawrence Countyboys head coach Bobby Lee. “Shooting the basketball is our biggestproblem. Brookhaven has a good team.”

Top scorer for the Cougars was Chris Bridges with 18 points.Netting 15 points was Erik Stringer.

In the girls game, Lawrence came back in the second quarter andplayed their best basketball of the night. The Lady Cougars (3-6,0-1) scored 15 points but the Lady Panthers (8-1, 1-0) fired in 19points to go into halftime with a 35-18 lead.

Brookhaven put Lawrence in the hole in the third quarter,outscoring the visitors 21-5 to take a commanding 57-22 lead intothe fourth quarter.

“We are not a good team yet,” said Brookhaven girls head coachRonald Gill. “We are working to get there. Everyone is playinghard.”

Directing the Brookhaven girls with 11 points apiece were centerAyana Tillman and Anna Autman. Scoring nine points was ChiquitaRancifer. Tillman and Autman collected six rebounds apiece. TiffanyEdwards made five steals.

“We are very young,” stated Lawrence County girls head coachArchie Ross. “Tonight, we were down. We didn’t rebound well. I knowwe will improve. Brookhaven is awful tough. We look forward toplaying them again.”

Jazz Lewis sparked Lawrence County with eight points and fourrebounds. Brittany Peyton followed with five points.

Junior Varsity Results

The Brookhaven junior varsity boys held off Lawrence County forthe 41-38 win. Jasper Hall led Brookhaven with 13 points. JoaquineSmith followed with seven points.

Brookhaven will host Terry Tuesday night for three games.Lawrence County visits Franklin County the same night.