The Brookhaven Lady Panthers doubled the North Pike Lady Jaguars62-31 Tuesday night in Sinclair Gymnasium. The North Pike Jaguarsmade it a split decision; defeating the Brookhaven Panthers 68-54in the varsity boys game.

Both teams return to the hardwood Thursday, with Brookhaventraveling to Hazlehurst for 2 varsity games, starting at 6 p.m.North Pike hosts West Marion.

Brookhaven 62, North Pike 31

The preseason No. 5-ranked Lady Panthers (2-0) took care ofbusiness early in the first quarter. Head Coach Freda Craft saw herteam sprint to a 21-0 spurt to start the game, before a basket byNorth Pike’s Laiha Pevey halted the run. Ole Brook carried a 23-2lead into the second period.

The Lady Jaguars (1-2) fought Brookhaven to a 12-all scoringdeadlock in the second quarter but they trailed 35-14 at theintermission break.

“It was a good win, but we still have room for improvement,”said Coach Craft. “We got to play all eight players that dressedtonight.”

Brookhaven’s Dandy Dozen, Twin Tower duo of Nikki Byrd andSwayze Black led all scorers with 16 points apiece. Ashley Gaytenpumped in 11 points and dished out 3 assists. Byrd also had 11rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists. Black blocked 3 North Pike shots.Whitley Shannon had 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, 3 steals and 2assists.

Pevey led North Pike with 9 points, 2 blocked shots and 3steals. Shanika Turner had 5 rebounds and 2 steals. The Lady Jags,coached by Lance Golman, were outrebounded 37-20 and committed 30turnovers.

The Lady Panthers managed 20 miscues, but were able to score 10points off of 15 offensive rebounds.

North Pike 68, Brookhaven 54

The Jaguars (2-1) defeated their second Division 6-4A opponentof the season last night. North Pike defeated Lawrence County 72-66on Oct. 29.

The Panthers (1-1) jumped to an early 8-1 run that was aided bya pair of layups from center Desmond Arnold. Ole Brook would findits self on the wrong end of a 13-4 run by North Pike. The Pantherstrailed 14-12 entering the second period, and were down 31-17 athalftime.

North Pike, coached by Keith Russ, scored numerous transitionbaskets off of Brookhaven’s 30 turnovers. They led 43-25 headinginto the final stanza. The Jags extended their advantage to agame-high 20-point lead at 54-43 with over 4 minutes left in thegame.

Ole Brook, coached by Ronald Hines, caught fire with a torrid13-4 run over the next 3 minutes. Guard Keenan Richardson (3 treys)netted 11 points in the scoring spree. The Panthers trailed 58-49with 1:46 left on the clock, off a Frank Taylor layup. That wouldbe as close as they would get.

North Pike got a game-high 25 points from Albert Matthews, alongwith 5 steals and 5 assists. Phillip McCray tossed in 16 points.Mamud Kased added 14 points, 2 steals and 2 assists.

Arnold and Richardson each scored 12 points for the Panthers whoare minus three starters due to the extended football season.Taylor was tops off the boards with 7 rebounds, followed by Arnoldwith 6. Taylor and Chad Hall each had 3 steals. Richardson dishedout 3 assists.