Brookhaven splits tourney games with Lawrence Co.

Published 6:00 am Monday, January 5, 2004

MONTICELLO — Brookhaven and Lawrence County!!!

In any sport, when these two neighbors get together, anoutstanding hard-fought contest is usually expected. The nearcapacity crowd saw a pair of blowouts Friday night, as each schoolclaimed a victory in Day 2 of the 2004 Lawrence County Round-RobinBasketball Tournament.

In any sport, when these two neighbors get together, anoutstanding hard-fought contest is usually expected. The nearcapacity crowd saw a pair of blowouts Friday night, as each schoolclaimed a victory in Day 2 of the 2004 Lawrence County Round-RobinBasketball Tournament.

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The Lawrence County Cougars used a 22-5 first-half run to handthe Brookhaven Panthers a 54-39 non-division loss. The LadyPanthers got a game-high 16 points from 6-foot senior Anna Autman,to lead Brookhaven to a 56-35 win over the Lawrence County LadyCougars

Brookhaven and Lawrence County will meet for their divisiontests, Jan. 27 at Monticello and Feb. 3 in Brookhaven’s SinclairGym.

In other games, the Prentiss Bulldogs smashed the MendenhallTigers 80-59. The Mendenhall Lady Tigers drilled the Prentiss LadyBulldogs 64-31.

Brookhaven 56, Lawrence Co. 35

The Lady Panthers (9-8) doubled Lawrence County during the first3 quarters, leading 16-8 after one period, 32-16 at theintermission and 48-24 entering the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t come to play,” said Lady Cougar head coach ArchieRoss. “Brookhaven was ready for us tonight.”

Brookhaven, coached by Billy Holmes, used their height advantageto author the 21-point win. Autman and 6-foot senior KristianMcCray (11) combined for 27 points in the paint.

“We wanted to work the ball inside,” said Holmes following thegame. “We still need to get better with our offensiveexecution.”

Autman grabbed 6 rebounds and had 3 steals. Sophomore pointguard Blanche Wilson had 3 steals and 3 assists. Chiquita Ranciferdished out 5 assists. Ashley Leggett pumped 11 points and collected3 steals.

Lawrence County (7-5) got a team-high 11 points and 5 reboundsfrom Ronesha Garner. Erica Bryant had 3 steals. Sheletha Brentdished out 3 assists.

Lawrence Co. 54, Brookhaven 39

The boys teams traded baskets in the opening minutes of thegame. Brookhaven (10-7) led 6-5 on a basket by Jasper Hall.

Lawrence Co. opened the floodgates with a 22-5 run which thePanthers never recovered from. The Cougars used an inside/outsidecombination of David Clark and Vincent Newsome combined for 14points in the run. LCHS head coach Bobby Lee saw his ballclub claima 27-11 halftime advantage.

The Cougars led 9-8 at the end of the first quarter.

“We had too many careless turnovers tonight,” said Brookhavenhead coach Ronald Hines. The Panthers went nearly 5 minutes withoutany points in the Cougar run.

Brookhaven faced an uphill climb in the second half, trailing39-27 at the end of the third quarter. The Panther deficit wasreduced to 9 points, 40-31 with 5:40 left in the game on a basketby Jermaine Culver.

The Cougars closed the game with a 14-8 run to secure thewin.

“Our guards shot the ball well tonight,” said Lee following thegame.

Clark led all scorers with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals.Newsome added 12 points (2 treys). Ray Collins had 6 assists and 3steals. Justin Lewis had 3 steals.

Hall led the Panthers with 16 points, followed by Culver with10.

Mendenhall 64, Prentiss 31

Mendenhall (10-4), coached by Archie Skiffer, got a game-high 23points from Kededra Smith and 16 points from Angelica Burgess.Antina Williams led Prentiss with 8 points, who are coached byWanda Ard.

Prentiss 80, Mendenhall 59

Tremaine Enoch led Mendenhall (15-2), losing its secondconsecutive game in as many days, with 18 points. Willie Caffiepumped in 13 points and Darell Johnson provided 10 for head coachJerry Walker.

Prentiss (10-4), coached by Lonnie McLemore, got a game-high 36points and 15 rebounds from 6-foot-9 All-American senior center AlJefferson. Lucian Martinez followed with 18 points and RenaldoGarner.