Tamia Stallings finished with a game-high 16 points and Silentianna Collins added 11 points as the Brookhaven High School Lady Panthers cruised to a 61-29 win over the Natchez High School Lady Bulldogs Friday night in the MHSAA Region 6-5A opener for both teams.

Brookhaven, one of the top teams in all of Class 5A, made it extremely difficult for Natchez High to run its offense throughout the game. The Lady Bulldogs only reached double-digit once, and that was the third quarter.

From the first quarter to the second, it went from bad to worse for the Lady Bulldogs, and that was a product of the Lady Panthers’ stifling defense. Brookhaven led Natchez High 14-8 after one quarter of play and then put the game completely out of reach with a 17-1 advantage in the second quarter for a 31-9 lead at intermission.

Both teams scored 11 points in the third quarter, but that didn’t help the Lady Bulldogs at all. The Lady Panthers resumed their dominance by outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 19-9 in the fourth quarter.

Ayanna McNairy poured in 10 points for the Lady Panthers (17-1, 1-0). Candi Gray led the Lady Bulldogs with 13 points and Kelvonda Arbuthnot had six points.

Patrick Jones, The Natchez Democrat