NATCHEZ – On Friday night, Natchez hosted Brookhaven in what hasbecome an annual regular-season ending rivalry. Both teams aregearing up for division tournament play that begins Monday orTuesday.

It was Senior Night and Sweetheart Court 2003, as theblue-and-gold homestanders presented their basketball version of ahomecoming court nearing Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.

The Natchez Lady Bulldogs opened the evening’s festivities witha hard-fought 50-39 win over the Brookhaven Lady Panthers.

Natchez was playing for the doubleheader sweep in the varsityboys affair. The Brookhaven Panthers left many of the SRO crowdfrom Natchez broken-hearted. The red-jerseyed visitors bounced backfrom several deficits, to hand the Bulldogs a heart-stopping 47-43loss.

In an earlier match this season, the Natchez girls andBrookhaven boys claimed wins at Sinclair Gym, on Nov. 14.

Natchez used overtime to defeat Brookhaven 43-41 in the JV boysgame. More information on this game was unavailable at presstime.

The Brookhaven girls and boys begin play in the Division 6-4ATournament, which is being held at the South Pike Coliseum, Feb.11-14. The No. 4 seeded Panthers take on No. 5 seed Terry at 4 p.m.The No. 6 seed Lady Panthers meet No. 3 seed McComb at 5:30.

The Panthers (22-5) and Bulldogs (8-17) seemedto have trouble figuring out who was going to take control of thisgame. It was played mostly in spurts. The Lincoln County visitorswould have the one spurt that would count at the end.

Brookhaven head coach Ronald Hines and assistant Dan Presley sawtheir ballclub open the scoring early. A Natchez rally saw thehosts trail 13-12 entering the second period. Bulldog seniorforward Derrick Martin scored 6 of his game-high 15 points in thequarter.

The Panther offense fell on hard times in the second frame,totaling 4 points and found a 21-17 lead by the Bulldogs staringthem in the face at halftime. Brookhaven’s second quarter scorescame on a basket by Jasper Hall and single free throws by DexterMiddleton and Phillip Tobias.

Natchez, coached by Mike Martin, showed no patience on offensein the third. Their turnovers allowed Brookhaven to get back intothe game, with a 34-34 deadlock entering the final stanza.

Numerous lead changes (9) highlighted the final 8 minutes. TheBulldogs had a 43-41 cushion on a pair of free throws by CharlesCothern inside of a minute on the clock.

Panther center Lamar Hall tied the game at 43-43 on an offensiveputback. Caston’s two free throws with 7 ticks left on thescoreboard gave his teammates a 4-point lead. Natchez’s last shotfell short and Brookhaven concluded its regular season on a winningnote.

Balanced scoring paved the way for the Panthers, as Middletontossed in a game-high 9 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. LamarHall followed with 8 points and 14 rebounds. Jasper Hall had 8points and 7 rebounds. Caston had 3 steals.

Brookhaven controlled the boards 42-27 with 22 of those reboundscoming on the offensive end. The Panthers committed 20 turnovers,compared to 23 by Natchez.

The Lady Panthers (11-17) found themselves in ahole early, trailing 18-5 after the opening 8 minutes. Nearly 5minutes elapsed off the clock before Brookhaven scored on a basketby Shamika Gilmore.

Natchez, under the direction of Mary Irving and Sue Johnson,used an inside/outside combination to forge the early advantage.Senior post player Crystal L. Brown authored 10 points in theperiod, including 4 baskets in the paint.

When Brown was not scoring, senior guard Gloria Lewis wassacking baskets from the outside. Lewis led all scorers with 18points, with 6 coming in the first period.

The Lady Bulldogs entertained a 29-17 lead at theintermission.

“We just couldn’t get going,” said Lady Panther head coach BillyHolmes. “We are still committing too many turnovers.” Holmes wasreferring to Brookhaven’s 30 turnovers.

Brookhaven was able to cut their deficit to single digits at 8points, 35-27, entering the final quarter. The Lady Panthers wentto their inside game with Ayana Tillman and Anna Autman combiningfor 9 points in the period.

Lewis’ outside shooting kept Brookhaven at bay as she scored 10points in the second half. Brown followed with 15 points.

Tillman led the Lady Panthers with 13 points, 7 rebounds and 4blocked shots. Autman had 12 points and 6 rebounds. ChiquitaRancifer dished out 5 assists. Brookhaven was outrebounded 29-28,only scoring 4 points off of their 9 offensive boards.