Expect high level basketball Friday in Sinclair Gymnasium when the Brookhaven High girls’ basketball team tangles with their rivals from West Jones for the Region 5-5A championship. A first-round bye in next week’s MHSAA 5A playoffs is on the line as the teams split their regular season matchups.

Brookhaven High (21-4) won 64-63 when the teams played on Jan. 7 in Sinclair. West Jones (20-4) returned the favor on Jan. 25 with a 53-41 in over BHS in Soso.

Tipoff for the title is set for 7 p.m. on Friday. The BHS boys’ team will take on Natchez High in a consolation game that starts at 5:30 p.m. The Panthers (14-10) ended up in the consolation game after losing 52-44 to West Jones on Tuesday.

Ole Brook boy’s coach Charlton Grey had led his team to two wins over the Mustangs in the regular season — 73-52 and 55-51.

The Panthers jumped up early on West Jones Tuesday before the Mustangs (9-14) got a second half lead that they were able to salt away. Senior wing Elijah Kennedy led the Panthers with 17 points in the loss.

Grey’s team beat Natchez 69-39 on Jan. 11 and 58-52 on Jan. 28. Florence (22-2) beat Natchez 55-49 in their semifinal matchup to set up a game against West Jones in the finals at 8:30 p.m. on Friday.

A win against Natchez will keep the season alive for Brookhaven High as they’ll play on the road in the first-round next week with a victory. A loss against Natchez (5-16) would end the season for the Panthers.

For coach Preston Wilson’s girls’ team, West Jones is a familiar opponent. The teams split regular season games last season and BHS won the third pairing in the region tournament. Ole Brook won both games in the 2019-2020 season as Wilson’s team made it all the way to the MSHAA 5A state championship that season.

A 27-2 season for Brookhaven High in 2018-2019 was ended with a playoff loss to West Jones. That night BHS went up big early before West Jones came storming back for a 78-68 win. In that game, Brookhaven got 30 points from Snudda Collins, now a sophomore at Ole Miss, and West Jones was led by 23 points from guard Brikayla Gray, who is currently a starter for Southern Miss.

West Jones made this year’s finals after beating Natchez 50-34 on Tuesday. Later that night, BHS whipped Florence 63-28 in the first round. Natchez (3-14) and Florence (11-10) get things started with a consolation girls matchup Friday at 4 p.m.

Junior guard Angel Wilkinson led BHS with 16 points in the win over Florence.