High school basketball roundup: Area teams fair well in holiday tournaments
Published 10:00 am Wednesday, January 3, 2024
- FILE PHOTO Guard Jess Cox and Brookhaven Academy went 2-0 in a tournament hosted by Amite School Center last week in Liberty. The Cougars return to John R. Gray Gymnasium on Saturday for a home date with Copiah Academy.
Last week was a good week for most of the area teams that played in the various high school basketball tournaments throughout the state. The regular season kicks back up for many teams this week, ahead of classes resuming next week.
Bogue Chitto 56, South Pike 30 (Girls)
Bouge Chitto 57, Meridian 33 (Girls)
Bogue Chitto 46, Natchez High 36 (Girls)
Bogue Chitto 53, South Pike 49 (Boys)
Bogue Chitto 62, North Pike 28 (Boys)
Bogue Chitto 48, Natchez 45 (Boys)
Bogue Chitto and head coach Marc Howard went a collective 6-0 last week in the annual McComb High Holiday Tournament.
With their three wins, the BC girls’ team moves to 16-0 on the season. The Bobcats beat three quality opponents in the span of three days as 4A South Pike is 11-5 on the season, 7A Meridian High has an enrollment of 1,000 students and 5A Natchez High is 11-3 on the year.
The Bogue Chitto boys’ team is 15-1 after its three wins last week. The best win for them was the victory over Natchez High, which boats a 10-5 overall record.
Both Bobcat squads will play at West Lincoln on Friday, January 5.
Bayou Academy 43, Brookhaven Academy 40 (Girls)
Brookhaven Academy 49, Central Hinds Academy 30 (Girls)
Brookhaven Academy 71, Riverfield Academy 34 (Girls)
Brookhaven Academy 71, Christian Home Educators Fellowship (CHEF) 69 (Boys)
Brookhaven Academy 49, Cathedral School 44 (Boys)
The Brookhaven Academy Cougars split up last week as the girls’ team and coach Ron Kessler played in a tournament hosted by Copiah Academy, while coach Josh Watts and the boys’ team played in an event put on by Amite School Center in Liberty.
The win over Central Hinds for the BA girls avenged one of their losses from earlier in the regular season.
Both Cougar teams will play at home on Saturday, Jan. 6 against Copiah Academy.
Copiah was the last opponent for the Cougar boys’ team prior to the holiday tournament action. CA beat BA 47-26 in Gallman on Dec. 16. The win over Cathedral was the third time for the Brookhaven boys to play the Green Wave from Natchez. The Cougar had previously handled Cathedral 61-10 on Dec. 5 at home.
Lanier 27, Brookhaven High 17 (Girls)
Murrah 51, Brookhaven High 50 (Girls)
Brookhaven High 49, Lanier 46 (Boys)
Brookhaven High 62, Murrah 59 (Boys)
Brookhaven High played four close games over the course of two days last week in the annual JPS Holiday Tournament.
With two wins over JPS members Lanier and Murrah, the BHS boys’ team is 13-3 on the season. The Panthers and head coach Charlton Grey will host another JPS foe on Friday, Dec. 5 when Provine visits Sinclair Gymnasium.
The matchup with Provine is a region pairing and the Rams from south Jackson have an 11-4 record thus far on the season. The Provine girls are 1-12 on the year.
Senior Jaylen Haliburton scored 21 points to lead the Panthers to the win over Lanier. Sophomore Nicholas Gamble was the only other player in double figures with 10 points.
Haliburton also scored a team high 17 points against Lanier while sophomore Jamarion Cooper added 12 points and senior Jamarius Malone chipped in 11 points.
Loyd Star 55, Silliman Institute 50 OT (Girls)
Amite School Center 49, Loyd Star 37 (Girls)
Loyd Star 80, Silliman Institute 74 (Boys)
Loyd Star 49, Amite School Center 45 (Boys)
The Loyd Star boys’ team went 2-0 with two close wins over MAIS member school last week in the Amite School Center Holiday Tournament while the girls’ team split its two games.
The Loyd Star boys are 11-2 overall, with one loss coming to Puckett and the other coming to Lawrence County.
The Hornets return to the court on Thursday, Dec. 4 when they travel to Lawrence County for a pair of games. The Loyd Star boys are 1-0 in Region 7-2A play after beating West Lincoln 72-37 on Dec. 18.
The Loyd Star girls are 0-1 in region play after losing 40-24 to West Lincoln. Region play for both Loyd Star teams resumes on Jan. 9 at home against Amite County.
Lawrence County 61, St. Joe-Madison 43 (Girls)
Lawrence County 59, Hillcrest Christian 15 (Girls)
St. Joe-Madison 58, Lawrence County 52 (Boys)
Lawrence County 47, Hillcrest Christian 42 (Boys)
Lawrence County played in a two-day event hosted by Parklane Academy. The Parklane girls’ team is coached by former Lawrence County state championship winning coach Vicki Rutland.
The LC girls won both games over MAIS member schools Hillcrest Christian and Madison-St. Joe. Coach Candice McDuffey had lost two close games to North Pike (33-28) and Jefferson Davis County (60-51) prior to getting the wins at Parklane.
Region play begins on Friday for both Lawrence County teams as the Cougars host Forrest County AHS in Monticello.