Brookhaven Academy’s Lady Cougars won the MAIS AA state basketball championship.

What happened

The Brookhaven Academy girls’ basketball team won the 2018 MAIS AA state championship with a 51-40 win over Marshall Academy.

The game was dominated by the Lady Cougars for much of the contest, but a 22-4 Marshall Academy run late in the game allowed the Lady Patriots to tie the game at 37-37, and the Lady Cougars only had a 43-40 lead with less than 30 seconds left in the contest.

That’s when junior Jana Case and Anne Brantley Warren made clutch free throws late, to push the lead out to 51-40.

The game wasn’t close for most of the first half, but the Lady Patriots’ run late in the game closed the gap to where the free throws down the stretch where critical for the Lady Cougars.

Marshall Academy was held scoreless in the beginning of the game, as Brookhaven Academy raced out to an 11-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was tied, and the two teams went into the locker room for halftime with Brookhaven Academy leading 20-11.

Case led all players in scoring with 26 points, and junior Macy Grace Smith and Warren each contributed eight points to the total.

Brookhaven Academy finished the season with a 31-6 record, and won its first girls’ basketball state championship since 2010.

What they said

“I told the girls before we went on the floor, all God expects out of us is to get to the Red Sea. If we can get there with our effort, and have faith, he’ll open up the sea and we’ll win this game,” Brookhaven Academy girl’s basketball coach Jason Case said. “And the girls got to the Red Sea, and God did something great for us.”

“We just stayed together and focused on the game,” Smith said. “It feels amazing — I don’t really know how it feels. I’m just so happy we won.”

“I feel great,” Jana Case said. “I’ve always wanted to win a championship and now I know what that feels like.”

“I’ve been crying since it happened,” Anne Brantley Warren said. “All the emotions kicked in at once. It’s amazing.”