MENDENHALL – The Cougars and Lady Cougars of Brookhaven Academy were victorious Tuesday night in the opening round of the MAIS South State AA tournament at Simpson Academy.

In the girls’ contest, the Lady Cougars claimed a 32-26 victory over Central Private.

In boys’ action, the Cougars devoured the Ben Ford Christian School Eagles 64-47.

Brookhaven Academy continued their march in South State tournament action Friday as they prepare to take on the host Simpson Academy in both girls’ and boys’ action. The BA girls will begin play at 5:15 p.m. The BA boys start action at 7:45 p.m.

Brookhaven Acad. 32, Central Private 26 

The BA Lady Cougars (18-13) opened first round play in the South AA State Tournament at Simpson Academy in Mendenhall verses the Central Private Lady Rebels. The Cougar’s shooting was as cold as the wet and dreary weather outside.

Fortunately for the Lady Cougars, their defense was up to the task to edge out a 32-26 victory that left the Cougars a chance to play in the semifinal round on Friday.

“We definitely didn’t have our best shooting night tonight,” said BA coach Mack Gardner. “Our defense bailed us out, but we’ll certainly take the win and start tomorrow getting ready for our game against Simpson on Friday.”

Lindsey Winborne led the Lady Cougars with 8 points. Madison Warren added 7 and Caroline Stewart tossed in 6 toward the BA total. Sam Romero led the Lady Rebels in scoring with 14 points.

Brookhaven Acad. 64, Ben’s Ford 47 

The Cougars (22-7) came out strong in the opening quarter to grab a 17-4 lead and never looked back as Brookhaven carried a 34-25 lead into halftime.

In the second half, BA continued to overpower the Eagles by outscoring Ben’s Ford 30-22 to preserve the win.

Senior Travis Thorton was the offensive leader for the Cougars with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Joshua Wiggins chipped in 15 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Drake Flowers had 12 points. Zac Smith added 10 points and led on the boards with 11 points.