WAYNESBORO — The homestanding Wayne County Lady War Eagles tookadvantage of their familiar surroundings, to pull out a hard-fought49-37 win over the Brookhaven Lady Panthers Saturday night for theSouth State 4A girls championship.

Wayne County, the No. 1-ranked team in the state and No. 15 inthe USA Today girls high school poll, meets the Greenwood/NortheastJones winner Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Brookhaven plays the Indianola Gentry Lady Rams Monday night at6:30. Indianola Gentry beat Callaway Saturday night in the North 4Aconsolation game at Tunica Rosa Fort.

Wayne County 49, Brookhaven 37

The Lady Panthers (21-15) saw an 11-game winning streak come toa stop. Brookhaven played well throughout the night on both ends ofthe floor.

“I am proud of the girls tonight, even though we lost,” saidLady Panther head coach Billy Holmes. “We just could not get anybreaks down the stretch.”

Wayne Co. (30-1), the 4-time defending South State champions,raced out to a 22-9 first quarter lead. Shameka Russell (14) andDomaneshia Chambers (8) powered the Lady War Eagles’ attack.

Ole Brook countered in the second frame with senior guardBlanche Wilson scoring 8 points in the period. Holmes’ squadtrailed by 9 points, 31-22 at halftime.

The Lady Panthers trailed by as many as 14 points in the secondhalf, before mounting a furious comeback. Their deficit was reducedto 6 points, at 39-33 on an inside back by sophomore Nikki Byrdearly in the fourth stanza.

Wayne Co., coached by Gina Skelton, got a balanced scoringattack in the final minutes; aided by Brookhaven having to foul tostop the clock. The Lady War Eagles connected on 6-of-9 from thecharity stripe in the final 4 minutes to seal the win.

“We had a balanced attack tonight from the inside and outside,”said Skelton following the game. “Both teams played welldefensively.”

“Their improvement from last year to this year is amazing,”added Skelton whose Lady War Eagle team eliminated Brookhaven inthe opening round of last year’s opening round of the South State4A playoffs.

“They have a good team and are well-coached,” continuedSkelton.

Russell finished with 20 points, all in the first half; alongwith 6 rebounds. Chambers had 16 points and 8 steals for WayneCounty. The Lady War Eagles committed 12 turnovers, while shooting41 percent from the floor.

Byrd paced Ole Brook with 17 points and 2 blocked shots. SwayzeBlack had 7 rebounds. Blanche Wilson had 4 assists, while PortiaDickey dished out 3. The Lady Panthers committed 18 turnovers.Brookhaven connected on 16-of-31 from the field for 52 percent.

Northeast Jones 65, Long Beach 37

The Lady Tigers (31-6) got a game-high 17 points from EbonieJefferson. Kim Lewis added 14, while Valerie Clayton tossed in 12for head coach Cara Hyatt. Northeast Jones will meet GreenwoodMonday at 1 p.m. in Jackson’s Mississippi Coliseum.

The Lady Bearcats got 7 points from Merrin Mueller.