PELAHATCHIE — Brookhaven Academy Lady Cougars head coach BarryGray was not sure what to expect from his team after sufferingtheir first defeat in 51 games on Tuesday night when they fell toJackson Prep in overtime. But Leake Academy Coach Doyle Wolvertonknew exactly what to expect.

“I knew when I heard that Prep had beaten Brookhaven that itwould do nothing but make Brookhaven mad,” said Wolverton.

Wolverton’s suspicions were proven to be true as the LadyCougars defeated his Leake Academy Rebelettes 52-49 in a rematch oflast year’s Overall State Championship game.

Kelli Byrd scored 17 points for Brookhaven to lead all scorersin a game that was not decided until Byrd made two free-throws witheight seconds remaining in the game. She also had four steals andfour rebounds as the Lady Cougars improved to 9-1 on theseason.

Lauren Smith added 13 points for Brookhaven. Kristian Davidsonfollowed with nine points and ten rebounds.

“I was really proud of the girls tonight,” said Lady CougarCoach Barry Gray. “They kept their composure late in the game whenwe got in foul trouble. We were able to get some big plays towardsthe end and hold on to win. We still have some things we need towork on

to get better, but I’m proud of these girls.”

Allison Phillips led Leake with 16 points. Britni Harvey andGreggina Tadlock followed with 9 points a piece for theRebelettes.

In the varsity boys game, Cole Hodges, Jeremy Winborne and SethDavis each registered a double-double as the Cougars smashed Leake76-57.

Hodges scored 25 points and collected 10 rebounds forBrookhaven. Davis followed with 24 points and 12 rebounds andWinborne scored 14 points and had 11 boards as the Cougars improvedto 7-1 on the season.

“I don’t think we’ve reached any kind of level of consistency asa team, and if we’re not careful, that’s going to come back andbite us,” said Brookhaven Coach Dale Watts. “Hodges played with alot of focus tonight. He’s a good player.”

Matthew Wilkerson scored 15 points for the Rebels as they fellto 10-2 on the season. Jordan Gilmer followed with 13 points.