Brookhaven’s Swayze Black sacked a short jumper in the paintwith under 5 seconds on the clock. A last-second shot by Murrah’sLaShondra Barrett fell short and the Lady Panthers upset thepreviously unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Lady Mustangs 46-44 in theBrookhaven Classic Saturday night in Sinclair Gymnasium.

Feeding off the Lady Mustangs’ loss, the Murrah boys opened thesecond half with a 14-0 run as the Mustangs held off the BrookhavenPanthers 61-45.

Brookhaven heads to Florence Friday night and MendenhallSaturday night for a pair of Division 6-4A test.

In other Classic action, the Pisgah Lady Dragons upset theHattiesburg Lady Tigers 47-41. In boys play, Callaway defeatedClinton 58-41 and Provine smashed Hattiesburg 89-59. Pearl beatLawrence County 58-45.

Brookhaven 46, Murrah 44

The Lady Panthers (22-3), preseason ranked No. 5 in the state,had a simple game plan. They wanted to slow down the tempo and getgood, high-percentage shot selection. Mission accomplished.

“We wanted to make sure that we took good shots tonight,” saidLady Panther head coach Freda Craft. “We wanted to control thetempo.”

This game featured 4 Dandy Dozen players in Murrah’s LaShondraBarrett (senior) and junior Tanecka Carey. Brookhaven counteredwith their twin towers of Black and Nikki Byrd.

Barrett got into early foul trouble and spent a majority of theopening period on the Murrah bench. The Lady Panthers tookadvantage on the boards to claim a 9-6 lead entering the secondframe.

Carey began to heat up from the outside as she sacked a pair oftreys to put the Lady Mustangs to a single-point deficit at theintermission 23-22.

Murrah (21-1), coached by Anna Jackson, also came into the gameranked third in the nation by USA Today.

Craft did not substitute the entire game. All 5 starters spentthe entire 32 minutes on the floor. Their aggressiveness on bothends of the floor proved to be an important part in their win.

Ole Brook led by 2 points, 38-26 entering the pivotal fourthperiod.

The lead exchanged hands several times. Some indiscrepencieswere witnessed through the final 8 minutes before Black hit the10-foot jumper in the waning moments.

“I am so proud of my girls tonight,” said Craft following thegame. “They played well.”

Black led all scorers with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.Byrd tossed in 12 points, pulled down 7 rebounds and dished out 2assists. Amber Dickey had 3 assists.

Carey led Murrah with 13 points, 10 in the first half. Barrettwas held to 12 points, 3 assists and 7 rebounds. Brandi Simmons had4 steals.

Black and Barrett are both LSU signees. Byrd inked with OleMiss.

Murrah 61, Brookhaven 46

These 2 teams have had up-and-down seasons. The Panthers cameinto the game on a 4-game winning streak.

Brookhaven (11-15) claimed leads of 10-8 after the openingperiod and 28-25 at the intermission break.

The Mustangs (12-11) opened the second half with a 14-0 spurt totake a 39-28 advantage near the end of the third.

Sharp-shooting Murrah guard Gary Love led all scorers with 22points, followed by Dundrecous Nelson with 21. Trey Felder added 14points for Mustang head coach Robert Frith.

Ole Brook got 18 points from Simmie Yarborough and 13 pointsfrom Charles Rancifer.

Pisgah 47, Hattiesburg 41

The Pisgah Lady Dragons got 19 points from Mary Ann Hill. TheLady Tigers were led by Colby Stallings with a game-high 29points.

Provine 89, Hattiesburg 59

Dandy Dozen guard Scottie Haralson, a Connecticut signee, andEmery Kelly scored 14 points each for the Provine Rams. JosephMcSwain paced the Tigers with 12 points.

Callaway 58, Clinton 41

The Callaway Chargers were led by 6-foot-8 freshman LaQuintonRoss with a game-high 22 points. The Arrows got 15 points fromDonzeddrick Smith.

Pearl 58, Lawrence County 45

The Pearl Pirates were led by Montell Waters with 21 points.Leroy Fifer tossed in 15 for the Cougars.