The Brookhaven Academy basketball teams made their 2003 homedebuts Saturday afternoon in John R. Gray Gymnasium. Both teamswere successful, using some torrid outside shooting to defeat thevisitors from the Pelican State.

The Lady Cougars shot 68 percent from the field, to beat theRiverdale, La. Lady Rebels 68-39. The Lady Rebels are the defendingOverall Academy state champions.

Cougar guard Cole Hodges led 6 teammates in double figures, ashead coach Dale Watts’ squad smashed the Riverdale, La. Rebels97-56. Hodges also had 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 5 assists.

Brookhaven Academy opened the day’s menu with a pair of seventhgrade wins over Adams County Christian School, winning 33-22 in thegirls game and 64-12 in the boys contest.

BA travels to Raymond Tuesday to take on Central Hinds for 5games, with the first game tipping of at 3:15 p.m.

The Lady Cougars (5-0) used two huge runs togarner a 30-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. BA used theinside game to get started, then found a scorching outside touch,sacking 4 3-point baskets. Mallory Logan hit a pair of treys,scoring 8 of her game-high 16 points, along with 4 assists.

“This was the best first quarter so far this year,” said LadyCougar head coach Barry Gray. “We played unselfishly in thequarter.” Gray’s ballclub scored 11 points off of 5 Riverdaleturnovers in the period.

The shooting pace slowed down in the second period but BA stillled 42-17 at the intermission. The Lady Cougars were 17-for-28 fromthe field in the opening half.

BA continued their dominance in the second half, scoringnumerous baskets off of Rebel turnovers. The Lady Cougars shot ablistering 85 percent from the floor (11-for-13) in the final 16minutes, and led 57-24 heading into the final period.

Providing support for BA were Emily Langley with 14 points.Kelli Byrd pumped in 12 points, 3 steals and 6 assists. JessieAltman pulled down 4 rebounds. Joy Powell had 4 assists.

Riverdale, La. was led by Megan Worsham with 12 points.

The Cougars (2-0) trailed in the early momentsof the first period, before catching fire to take a 25-13 advantageinto the second frame. BA drained five 3-pointers in the opening 8minutes. Alan Gray came off of Watts’ bench to hit 2 treys andJeremy Winborne added 6 points.

BA added 4 3-point baskets in the second quarter to take a 47-28lead at halftime. Gray, a 5-foot-5 sophomore, was 5-for-5 frombehind the 3-point arc and was 6-of-6 for the game. He finishedwith 19 points, 3 steals and 5 assists.

“Alan (Gray) is a good kid,” said Watts. “He works very hard. Hehas a lot of heart.”

Hodges scored 11 points for BA in the third period, as theCougars held a 77-41 cushion entering the final stanza.

Riverdale, coached by Rusty Ward, got 16 points from JaredLongino and 12 points from Eric Hester.

The Cougars were 25-42 from the field (60 percent) for the game,including a 70-percent performance from beyond the 3-point line(14-20).

“We shot the ball well from the perimeter,” added Watts. “We gota lot of transition baskets.”

Lending support for the Cougars were Jonathan Winborne with 12points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 assists. Jeremy Winborne had 11assists.

Watts said senior center Alex Davis suffered a broken hand inTuesday’s win at Hillcrest Christian.

In the seventh grade games, the Lady Cougars got agame-high 14 points from Nicole Smith. Katie Givens led the LadyRebels with 13 points.

The Cougars got 14 points from Ty Smith, followed byJosh Winborne with 12 points. Jordan McClory pumped in 8 points topace the Rebels.