CANTON – Sparked by sharpshooting junior guard Zac Smith’s 21 points, the Brookhaven Academy Cougars smashed Leake Academy’s Rebels 66-52 Saturday night in the MAIS Class AA State Tournament consolation game. The victory, fueled by senior forward Will Hickman’s 20 points, landed the Cougars in this week’s MAIS Overall Tournament at Mississippi College in Clinton.

The Cougars (25-13), coached by Dale Watts, are expected to play Tuesday in MC’s A.E. Wood Coliseum. They play West Memphis in the opening round.

Saturday’s win helped make amends for Friday’s 54-24 loss to Marshall Academy in the semifinals. Marshall defeated Central Private 64-54 Saturday night for the championship and claimed a third straight title.

BA 66, Leake 52

Hickman was a perfect 18-for-18 from the free throw line against Leake. Senior forward Gage Posey chipped in 13 points.

During the fourth-quarter surge, Smith sacked back-to-back treys from the corner. His second trey gave the Cougars a 63-42 advantage. He sacked 7 treys in the victory.

“We had a tremendous first quarter,” said Coach Watts. “Leake came back but we picked it up.”

The Cougars raced to a 22-6, first-quarter advantage. They led 28-18 at haltime.

“Zac had a good shooting night,” said Watts. “Will took it to the hoop and made his free throws.”

On the backboards, Posey grabbed 8 rebounds and Hickman 7. Posey made 4 steals.

Sophomore Alex Shepherd led the Rebels and all scorers with 23 points. Evan Mayfield scored 10 points.

Marshall 54, BA 24

The Marshall Academy Patriots had to wait nearly three months to avenge a heart-wrenching 49-40 loss to Brookhaven Academy in the MAIS Class AA State Championship football game. It was a basketball scene Friday night and the Patriots went on a scoring rampage, beating the Cougars 54-24 in the MAIS Class AA State Tournament semifinals at Canton Academy.

Marshall quarterback Dakota Daley sparkled as a point guard Friday night, sacking 24 points in the stampede. The 2-time defending state champion Pats owned a 33-12 halftime lead and outscored the Cougars 16-zip in the third frame.

“We just had a bad night against an extremely powerful team,” said Coach Watts. “They took us out of our game plan.”

Six points by Travis Thornton led BA in scoring. Matthew Evans collected 4 rebounds.