For the seventh consecutive year, Brookhaven Academy’s LadyCougars laid claim to the District 4-AA Tournament championshipSaturday night. In a battle of Top 10 teams, the No. 1 seed LadyCougars fought off a stubborn No. 2 seed Presbyterian ChristianSchool Lady Bobcat team from Hattiesburg 46-30 in John R. GrayGymnasium.

BA is ranked No. 1 and PCS is ranked No. 8 in a Jackson-areapoll of Mississippi Private School Association schools. The LadyCougars are defending Class AA State Tournament champions.

In the consolation game, Columbia Academy hammered CentrevilleAcademy 60-38. All four finalists advance to the South StateTournament

BA participates in the South AA tournament Feb. 10-14 at SimpsonCounty Academy in Mendenhall. The Lady Cougars will meet the loserof the Riverfield (La.)/East Rankin at a date and time to bedetermined. Semifinals will be Friday and consolation and finalsSaturday in afternoon and evening sessions. The AA State Tournamentis the following at Canton Academy.

Brookhaven 46, Presbyterian 30

The Lady Cougars (34-0) got a balanced scoring attack as 6 BAplayers put points on the scoreboard. Head Coach Barry Gray saw hissquad lead 11-4 heading into the second quarter.

The Lady Bobcats (26-6), coached by Missy Builderback, kept thegame close in the second. A basket by Lori Bernardo with 5 minutesleft in the first half, brought PCS to within 3 points, at 19-13.PCS would trail 26-17 at halftime.

BA authored a 16-5 third period run to take a 20-point advantageat 42-22 into the final frame. The Lady Cougars led by as many as23 points in the period. Junior center Kristian Davidson tossed in4 of her 9 points during the 8-minute stretch.

PCS held the Lady Cougars scoreless for over 5 minutes, as theyused a trapping defense throughout most of the game. The LadyBobcats went on an 8-0 run to cut their deficit to 12 points at42-30, on a pair of free throws by Whitney Lee with 2:56 left inthe game. That would be the last time Builderback’s ballclub wouldscore.

An old-fashion 3-point by senior forward Jessie Altman broke theBA drought.

“We were not expecting their trapping defense,” said Gray.”Except for a few mistakes, we played well.”

BA junior guard Kelli Byrd tossed in a team-high 11 points,along with 3 assists. Davidson also grabbed 10 rebounds and had 4steals. Mallory Logan had 10 points, 3 steals and 3 assists. Altmanhad 5 rebounds. Lauren Smith dished out 3 assists.

Bernardo led PCS with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Lee dished out 4 assists and made 2 steals.

Columbia 60, Centreville 38

The Columbia Lady Cougars, coached by Ray Hainey, were led byAnna Patterson with 15 points and Lindsay Beard with 10.

The Centreville Lady Tigers got a game-high 20 points from JenaeJackson, who is coached by Penny Sawyer.