Poor ball-handling and turnovers by the Brookhaven Panthersplagued them down the stretch in their Brookhaven Classic matchupwith the Jackson Murrah Mustangs Saturday night. The final resultwas a 60-57 Panther loss at the hands of the Mustangs in SinclairGym.

In other boys action, Ridgeland defeated Loyd Star 67-49 andRaleigh squeaked past South Pike 71-69.

Brookhaven hosts McComb in Sinclair Gymnasium Friday night. LoydStar hosts Wesson Tuesday night for 4 games.

Murrah 60, Brookhaven 57

The Panthers (11-12) had their moments in this game. Theirlargest lead of the night was 13 points. Ole Brook, coached byRonald Hines opened the game with a 12-0 run; leading 20-11entering the second quarter.

The Mustangs (11-9) began to chip away at their deficit in thesecond frame. They outscored the Panthers 15-10 in the period totrail 30-26 at the halftime break.

“We took advantage of their turnovers in the second half,” saidMustang head coach Robert Frith. “We were more patient with ouroffense.”

Frith’s stallions would outdistance Brookhaven 34-20 in thesecond half.

Panther forwards Charles (Bobo) Rancifer and Simmie Yarboroughkept Brookhaven in the game. Rancifer sacked consecutive treys inthe final minutes to pull the Panthers with 2 points, at 57-55.

The Mustangs would win the game with a 9-of-11 performance atthe charity stripe in the final minute of the game.

Rancifer led all scorers with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 7assists for the Panthers. Yarborough tossed in 15 points and 8rebounds. Yarborough and Terrance Perkins each had 2 assists.

Murrah was led by Gary Love and Nick Walker with 13 pointsapiece. Dondreccus Nelson has 12 points, while Jonathan Copelandpumped in 11.

The Panthers committed 21 turnovers in the game, compared to 9by Murrah.

Raleigh 71, South Pike 69

The Eagles were led by Philip Brown with 17 points. QuentinBrown had 15 and Brinson Johnson added 12 points for head coach JoeTaylor.

The Lions got a game-high 27 points from Cornelius Denson andHenry Washington followed with 26. Raleigh is coached by formerBogue Chitto coach Jason Kennedy.

Ridgeland 67, Loyd Star 49

The Hornets (12-8) got 24 points and 9 rebounds from Ron Jones.Loyd Star, coached by Gene “Moochie” Britt, trailed 18-9 after oneperiod and 39-21 at the halftime break.

“Ridgeland has a good team,” Coach Britt said. “They shot theball good. We were a little tired from last night’s game with HindsAHS.”

The Class 4A Titans (16-8) placed 3 in double-figures. Headcoach Roderick Davidson got 24 points from Jeff Stubbs and 15 fromJames Taylor.