MAGNOLIA – No lead in any sport is safe, until the final hornsounds. The Brookhaven Panthers nearly experienced a miraclecomeback by South Pike at the South Pike Coliseum Friday night. Thehost Eagles cut a 20-point Panther lead down to two points in thefinal period but Brookhaven held on for an 81-75 non-division winover South Pike.

The Brookhaven Lady Panthers held a 16-12 advantage after oneperiod of play. Their shooting touch disappeared for the remainderof the game as the South Pike Lady Eagles came away with a 46-38non-division victory. The Division 6-4A test for both teams will beFeb. 4, at Brookhaven.

Brookhaven defeated South Pike 56-55, in overtime, in thepreliminary JV boys game.

Brookhaven travels to Bogue Chitto for 3 games Monday night,beginning at 5 p.m. with a JV boys game. The varsity girls gamebegins at 6, followed by the varsity boys at 7:30.

The Lady Panthers (8-4) came out of thestarting gates on fire, claiming a 16-12 lead heading into thesecond period.

“We shot the ball well in the first quarter,” said Brookhavenassistant Terri Hall. “After that, we couldn’t hit nothing.”

South Pike, coached by Marcus Flippin, authored a 16-8 run inthe second period to entertain a 28-24 lead at the intermission.The Lady Eagles led 35-27 entering the final frame.

“We could not handle the pressure that they put on us,” saidBrookhaven head coach Billy Holmes.

Brookhaven got a game-high 13 points from 6-foot senior centerAyana Tillman. Tillman pulled down 13 rebounds. Shemeka Gilmoreprovided 6 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Chiquita Ranciferdished out 4 assists. Aneidra Stanton had 5 steals.

Tracy Forest led the Lady Eagles with 12 points, followed byJessica Stallings with 11.

The Panthers (11-1) seemed to show no illeffects from a 6-day layoff. Brookhaven’s last basketball actionwas Saturday, Dec. 7 at Clinton. Coach Ronald Hines and assistantDan Presley saw their BHS ballclub race to a 14-point lead, 25-11,at the end of the first period. Turning up the defensive pressure,Brookhaven increased their advantage to 44-27 at halftime.

South Pike, coached by Joe Leavy, began to chip away at thedeficit in the third period. The Eagles outscored the Panthers25-19 in the period and trailed 63-52 entering the finalstanza.

“We put in some better ballhandlers near the end of the thirdperiod,” said Hines. “We started committing turnovers.”

South Pike continued their march towards a possible victory,trimming Brookhaven’s lead to within 2 points, 77-75, on a basketby Kevin McCoy inside of a minute to play.

Brookhaven went the charity stripe several times in the finalseconds to secure the win.

The Panthers had 3 players in double figures, led by seniorcenter Lamar Hall with 13 points. Jasper Hall, Lamar’s youngerbrother, and Rodney Daniels followed with 10 points apiece.

Sophomore Fred Jones of South Pike led all scorers with 25points. Jamison Magee followed with 19 points and Kevin McCoy16.

In the JV boys game, Brookhaven used an extraperiod to pull out the win as Micah Tanner sacked 20 points. ThePanthers got 11 points from Wade Stewart and 10 from MichaelThrasher. South Pike was led by Jonathan Williams with 16 pointsand Demetrius Sloan with 13.