Senior guard Christen Benson and freshman guard Lazorian McNulty were named recipients of the Panther Award at Monday night’s Brookhaven High School Basketball Awards Banquet. Benson and Trevillion were recognized for their versatile basketball skills on offense and defense, plus their shooting ball-handling and rebounding skills.

     The Brookhaven girls, coached by Freda Craft, realized one of their best seasons in several years. They posted a 21-8 record and advanced to the South Class 5A state playoffs.

     Craft, assisted by Zandra Hamilton this season, had four seniors on the squad in Benson, Carey Crozier, Archea Brotherns and Raven Smith. Crozier was recognized as winner of the Best Defensive Player and Scholastic Awards. Brotherns was named Best Rebounder.

     Other special awards went to Jessica Wilson, Most Improved; Khynetria Hill, Sixth Man; and Fredericka Fairman, All-Purpose Player. Coach Craft noted that 9 of her 12 players had achieved a 3.0 GPA or better. Crozier’s GPA is 3.851.

     Benson, speaking for the seniors, presented Craft and Hamilton with special gifts provided by the BHS Hardwood Club. “Thank you for making us work hard in practice. All of that running, all of those drills, made us a winning team.”

     Benson has signed a combination softball/basketball scholarship with East Central Community College.

     Coach Preston Wilson’s Panthers (9-17) struggled through what  he called “a season of ups and downs. We had high expectations. As the saying goes, ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.'”

     Wilson’s Panthers lost starting point guard Norlando Veals to a knee injury sustained during the football season. Veals, along with Ryan Thibodeaux and Randy Bell, are Brook’s three seniors.

     “Once they finally put it together as a team, we had a great finish,” Wilson noted.

His Panthers were seeded No. 4 in the Region 6-5A Tournament and upset No. 1 seed Pearl in the opening round. They lost a close decision to McComb in the region finals and advanced to the South 5A playoffs, losing to Pascagoula. McComb and Pascagoula finished 1-2 in the South playoffs and advanced to the state tournament.

     Wilson said the BHS basketball future looked bright. He noted that Tavis Moore came back late in the season from an injury and showed plenty of potential. Moore was the leading scorer in his team’s loss at Pascagoula.

     Wilson and assistant coach Jimmy Butler presented the special awards last night.

     Thibodeaux received the Best Rebounder Award. Fred Trevillion was recognized as Best Defensive Player. Randy Wilson was named Most Improved and Lonnie Lenoir was picked Mr. Hustle. Khalil Newton was named Most Energetic and Carl King was recognized as the Scholastic Award winner. King has a 97.1 average in the classroom.

     Hardwood Club president Valerie Moore thanked the coaches, players and parents for their support during the season. Wilson also expressed his thanks to the parents and club members.

     BHS team member Brandon Henyard provided the invocation prior