The Brookhaven Academy Cougars and Lady Cougars were looking to kick off post-Christmas play on the right foot Friday afternoon as they took part in day-one of the Columbia Academy Holiday Classic tournament. The Cougars faced off against North Pike and knocked out the Jaguars by a score of 58-50. The Lady Cougars answered the call, ringing up the Lady Trojans from West Marion by a score of 61-52. 

In varsity boys action, BA used a 17-10 second-quarter run to take a seven-point advantage into the locker room at halftime. Though the Jags cut into the lead on multiple occasions, the Cougars used a ball control offense and precision cuts to the basket that proved to be enough to stymie any late game heroics from North Pike.

Cade Brown led BA and all scorers with 20 points. Dawson Flowers and Ethan Nations added 14 and 12 points, respectively. Brown also had 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals to cap off a full night of work. Chaz Leonard paced North Pike with 18 points.

In girl’s action, the Lady Cougars showed very little holiday rust, jumping out to an eight-point lead after the first quarter of play and stretching their margin over the Lady Trojans by a score of 39-26 at the midway break.  The ladies from BA built a comfortable 23-point advantage in the third quarter, allowing coach Jason Case to turn it over to his bench to wrap up the win. 

Junior Jana Case led BA with a 20-point outing. Anne Brantley Warren added 11 points while Julianna Crosby tossed in eight points in support.

In day-two play on Saturday, BA hooked claws with tournament host Columbia Academy in both boys and girls action. The boys in blue took care of business and pulled away for a convincing 47-33 win. Copiah’s stingy defense proved too much for the Lady Cougars, as they knocked off BA by a score of 43-29.

The visiting Cougars used a 20-5 scoring advantage in the second quarter to take control and force Columbia out of their game plan, paving the way to their win. Junior Dawson Flowers led BA and all scorers with a 19-point night. Ethan Nations added nine points in support. Jay Stringer led Columbia with 10 points.

In girl’s play, Columbia’s swarming defense and size proved to be too big a task for the Lady Cougars to overcome. Trailing 21-13 at halftime, the Lady Cougars hoped to regroup in the locker room but could draw no closer, eventually falling to the home squad. 

Jana Case and Cameron Watson led BA with eight points each. K.K. Jordan dropped seven points to round out the Lady Cougar scoring leaders. Lauren Rowley led Columbia with 14 points.

BA will be back in action on Friday as they travel to Franklinton, Louisiana to take on the Bowling Green Buccaneers for six games. Seventh-grade girls start at 2 p.m.

Jackson Prep will visit John R. Gray Gymnasium on Saturday for four games. Junior high contests begin at 2 p.m.