Cole Hodges and his Brookhaven Academy teammates absorbed ahalftime sermon from Coach Dale Watts and refocused on their Fridaynight task. Hodges provided a rare triple-double and the Cougarsrolled to a 72-56 victory after leading 39-36 at halftime.

Hodges, a junior playmaker, finished with 13 points, 15 reboundsand 13 assists. He had plenty of support as sophomore center SethDavis sacked a career-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. JonathanWinborne and Alex Davis each scored 14 points.

“It makes me feel good to get it (triple-double),” said Hodges.”We step up when we have to step up. Teams will stick with us thefirst half but then we turn it on in the second half and leavethem.

“We do our best when we move the ball and createopportunities.”

Seth Davis scored 6 points in the last 78 seconds of the firsthalf to spark a late rally by the Cougars (18-0, 5-0). They startedthe third quarter with 6 unanswered points as Jeremy Winbornecashed in a pair of jumpers and Seth Davis scored inside, pushingtheir team ahead 45-36.

“I told our team to focus on the little things,” said BA boyscoach Dale Watts. “Things like jumping to the ball, blocking out onrebounds and getting a good spread between their man and theball.”

Watts said his team’s first-half turnovers allowed Silliman tobuild a 5-point lead. The Wildcats (7-8, 3-3) led 32-27 on a layupby Cody Savoy. Teammate Hunter Smoody scored 14 of his team-high 18in the first half.

The Lady Cougars (23-0) remained undefeated andranked No. 1 in the Mississippi Private School Association bywhipping Silliman 62-31. They were led by guard Lauren Smith’s 15points, including 3 treys. Center Jessie Altman chipped in 11points and 6 rebounds. Guard Kelli Byrd added 10 points and 7rebounds. Kristian Davidson grabbed 7 rebounds.

“We weren’t very focused tonight,” said BA girls coach BarryGray. His team led Silliman (4-11) by 20 points, 34-14, athalftime.

Silliman, coached by Revell Gunter, got 8 points from ElizabethRathbone.

Junior High Results

In the junior high girls game, Brookhaven dumped Silliman 40-36as Holly Case pumped in 21 points. Hannah Watts added 8 points andKelli Brady 6 plus 4 rebounds. Alex Grant had 6 rebounds for theLady Cougars who improved to 15-1 overall and 8-0 in District4-AA.

Thirteen points by Emma Sones led Silliman in scoring.

The Brookhaven (11-2) boys beat Silliman 51-45, paced by T-BoyLynch’s 25 points. Price Sessums added 9 points, Kolby Byrd 7 andLarry Bailey 5.

Silliman got 19 points from Spence McLain and 11 from AndrewForbes.