The Brookhaven Panthers relied on their defense in thesecond half to fend off the South Pike Eagles’ rally and captured a71-66 win Wednesday afternoon in the McComb Holiday Classic.

 

    In girls’ action, the Lady Eagles came out ready to play as theywere firing on all cylinders and thumped the Lady Panthers47-30.

    Brookhaven resume action today in the McComb tournament as thePanthers and Lady Panthers battle the North Pike Jaguars. The girlstip off at 12:30 p.m., followed by the boys at 2.

 South Pike 47, Brookhaven30

    The Lady Eagles used their small guards in the firstquarter  to penetrate theLady Panthers’ full-court pressure and lead 16-8. In the secondquarter, South Pike continued with the same plan and rolled intohalftime with a 28-11 lead.

    In the second half, the Lady Panthers managed to catch their secondwind. Ole Brook’s bench led the surge with 11-5 run to trim SouthPike’s lead to 33-22 after three quarters. In the fourth, the LadyEagles quickly answered the challenge and denied Brookhaven’sattempts to rally for the win.

    Senior forward Milesha McNulty pumped in a team-high 11 points tolead the Lady Eagles (11-3).

    “We came ready to play,” said South Pike coach Janice Felder.”We’ve been having some great practices the past week and it showedin the game”

    The Lady Panthers (8-7) were led offensively by Tiakara Kelly witha game-high 14 points. Shareeka Hill and Fredericka Fairman werethe leaders on the boards with 5 rebounds apiece.

    “Our girls did not come ready to play mentally,” said Brookhavencoach Freda Craft. “I was really please with how well our benchstepped up and played in the third quarter, but we could not getover the hump in the fourth.”

    Craft’s team had beaten the Lady Eagles 60-42 on Nov. 17, atBHS.

Brookhaven71, South Pike 66

 

    The Panthers (12-3) quickly set the tone in the first quarter asthey climbed to an 18-8 lead over the Eagles. In the secondquarter, Ole Brook continued their aggressive play and held a 32-20lead at the half.

    In the third quarter, South Pike finally woke up and went on 24-15run to trim the Panthers’ lead to 47-44. In the fourth, Brookhavenand South Pike battled back-and-forth. Ole Brook managed to pullaway late in the quarter with their strong defense and key freethrows to claim the win.

    Sophomore forward Fred Trevillion captured a double-double as hepoured in a team-high 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead thePanthers. Glenn Buie contributed 18 points, while collecting 5rebounds and 4 assists.

    “We played really great in the first half,” said Ole Brook coachPreston Wilson. “Our guys came out and played with an up-tempo.

    “In the second half, we struggled to get things going,” continuedWilson. “South Pike did an excellent job fighting back into thegame. Overall, I was proud of the guys effort to keep fighting toget the win.”

    South Pike (11-3) received an game-high performance from DeangeloColeman as he pace the Eagles with 35 points.

    “We came out slow and had a terrible first half,” said South Pikecoach Joe Taylor. “We struggled to get our offense going and we gotinto early foul trouble.

    “Overall, I was pleased that we came out and played a lot better inthe second half,” stated Taylor. “Now, we must regroup and getready for the next game.”

    South Pike plays McComb tonight at 6:30 and 8.