BROOKHAVEN-Brookhaven swept a varsity basketball double-header from old foe Lawrence County in high school basketball action Friday night at BHS.

The Lady Panthers won a thriller, 53-51, on a Fredericka Fairman put-back as time expired. Preston Wilson’s Panthers needed no such drama, starting their game on a 14-0 run and rolling to a 59-34 win.

In the girls’ game, Ole Brook led most of the way, only to see Lawrence County come back and grab a 6-point lead, 40-34, on a DaKendra Collins basket with 5:32 left in the game. After that, Freda Craft’s girls went on a 12-0 run, with 8 of those 12 points coming from the free throw line.

Trailing 46-40, LCHS went on a 9-1 run of its own, taking a 49-47 lead on a Collins basket with 1:14 left on the clock. After that, it was a back-and-forth thriller, with Fairman’s offensive rebound and basket at the buzzer sending the Brookhaven partisans into a frenzy.

“It was a crowd-pleasing game,” said Craft, whose Lady Panthers improved to 5-5, “but not the type a coach wants. When we got the lead, we relaxed, then had to play again.

“It was a great ending. Fredericka was the only senior we had on the floor tonight (fellow senior Diamond Herring is currently sidelined by injury), and we had to have her leadership.”

Along with her 7 points, Fairman contributed 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Kynitria Hill paced Brookhaven with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Chantel Quarles added 10 points. Jessica Wilson contributed 9 points and 10 rebounds.

Collins, a 6-foot senior center, led Vicki Rutland’s Lady Cougars with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. Deneisha Dickson added 14 points, 3 assists, and 4 steals. The rebuilding Lady Cougars fell to an uncharacteristic 2-9 with the loss.

“I was very pleased with the effort,” Rutland said, “but we failed to block out and rebound. It was fitting that their winning basket came off an offensive rebound. We’ll work on it and get better. We’re getting better.”

Brookhaven rolled from the outset in the boys’ game. The Panthers led 12-0 after one quarter, and scored the first basket of the second quarter to start the game with a 14-0 lead. Behind 6’7″ freshman Keyshawn Feazell, Lawrence County battled back to within 8 points (23-15) late in the first half, but it was all Ole Brook after that.

Senior Khalil Newton led the Panthers with 15 points and 5 steals. Lazorian McNulty added 8 points, as 14 different Brookhaven players scored in the game. Tavis Moore and Darrian Wilson each had 6 rebounds. Damarius Brooks handed out 5 assists.

Brookhaven improved to 9-2 on the season, heading into a Saturday date with Laurel at Jones County Community College.

“We were able to get some easy baskets off our press,” said Wilson, who coached Lawrence County for three seasons, between his two stints at BHS.

“When you’re shooting well, you’ve got to make it up with your defense,” Wilson said, “and we were able to do that tonight.”

Feazell led Lawrence County with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. No other Cougar scored more than 5 points in the game. Keith Davis and Phillip Moore each pulled down 7 rebounds. The loss snapped a three game winning streak for the Cougars, who fell to 3-6 with the loss. Twenty-nine turnovers helped to seal Lawrence County’s fate.

“We gave a good effort, for the most part,” said LCHS mentor Pat Bridges. “We just turned the ball over too many times to give ourselves a chance.”

Lawrence County will host Wesson on Monday evening. Brookhaven will play host to Tylertown on Tuesday.