GRENADA — Brookhaven Academy fans were not sure what to expectfrom their Cougars Wednesday night in the opening round of the MPSAClass AA State Tournament at Kirk Academy . The Cougars, whosuffered two tough loses in their last two games while strugglingto find their offense, went into the state tournament as the No. 4seed from the South. Marshall Academy, the No. 1 seed from theNorth, faced the Cougars in an elimination game.

The winner would keep their season alive while securing a spotin next week’s MPSA Overall Tournament at Mississippi College. Theloser would hang it up after the final horn. When all was said anddone, Brookhaven Academy coach Dale Watts made sure his team wasprepared and that gave Cougar fans a happy ride home.

Brookhaven topped Marshall 56-54 in a game that saw the leadchange 12 times in the final four minutes of play.

In girls action, the Lady Cougars had little resistance in theopening round of the AA State Tournament as Brookhaven Acdemyrolled to a 70-42 bashing of the Fillies.

The Cougars jumped out to a 32-20 lead at thehalf, and seemed to have the game well in control, but a 12-0 runby Marshall to start the second half allowed the Patriots to keepthe Cougars on edge until the final horn sounded.

Junior guard Blaine Roberts scored a game-high 20 points andpulled down 8 rebounds.

Josh Winborne, Corey Dickerson and Jake Reed each added 8 pointsas the Cougars improved to 24-8 on the season. Daniel Lofton pulleddown 8 rebounds and dished out 7 assists for Brookhaven, whichadvances to the semifinal round and awaits the winner of BowlingGreen and Leake Academy.

“We did what it took.” said Watts. “We did a very good job ofkeeping our composure late in the game and making good decisions.Daniel (Lofton) did a good job of running the offense. He’s ouremotional leader so it’s important that he keeps his composure intough situations like this one.”

Watts knows his Cougars must play well in every game.

“We have to take it one game at a time. We’re going to have toplay our game and play it well but we can’t look ahead.”

Marshall did everything it could to battle back late in thefourth quarter but every time the Patriots scored, Brookhavensimply responded with a deliberate game plan: working for the easyshot.

Time after time, Cougar players beat Marshall defenders to thebasket for layups, the most crucial coming from Jake Reed with 44seconds remaining, which gave Brookhaven a 53-49 lead.

Marshall forward Brent Adams was called for a flagrant foulafter the basket had been made, and Reed made one of the two freethrows, giving the Cougars a 5-point advantage with 40 seconds togo.

Marshall responded quickly with a 3-point shot from Nick Tatebut a layup by Josh Winborne in the waning seconds gave the Cougarsa 56-52 advantage. Tyler Sanders scored a putback as time expired,but it was too little too late as the Cougar faithful erupted intoa thunderous celebration.

“We had our opportunities to take a lead and put them away, butwe didn’t do it.” said Marshall coach Craig Daley. “I thought wedid a great job of coming back from 12 down at halftime, but everytime we made an adjustment in the second half, they kept gettingeasy baskets. They handled everything well and made goodadjustments. That all goes back to coaching. Coach Watts is a greatcoach and he had them ready to play.

Gene Alexin scored 17 points to lead Marshall. Nick Tatefollowed with 16 points in support as the Patriots end theirseason.

Brookhaven 70, Lee 42

Brookhaven, the No. 1 seed from the South, improved to 31-3 onthe season. Lee, the No. 4 seed from the North, ends its season at19-15.

Brookhaven coach Barry Gray saw his team take a 34-21 lead atthe half and never look back as senior guard Betsy Lynch scored agame-high 23 points and had 3 steals to lead the Lady Cougars.Senior guard Kelli Snider followed with 20 points and 5 rebounds.Freshman center Anna Katelyn Mangold registered a double-double,scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

Brookhaven advances to meet the winner of Indianola and OakForest Friday at 1.p.m. Win or lose, they will play again Saturday,either in the championship game or the consolation. The LadyCougars also assured themselves a spot in next week’s Overall atMississippi College.

Taylor Shaffett scored a team-high 14 points to lead Lee. KimCorley and Virginia Peacock each added 13 points in support.