MENDENHALL– Forest Hill made a clean sweep of the Division 6-4ATournament Championships Friday night in the Mendenhall Highymnasium. The No. 1-seeded Lady Rebels defeated the Brookhaven LadyPanthers 36-29 in a low-scoring affair. The No. 1-seeded Rebelsplaced 4 players in double-figures to barely escape the No.2-seeded McComb Tigers 61-58.

In the consolation finals, the Port Gibson Blue Wave defeatedthe Brookhaven Panthers 58-49. The Port Gibson Lady Wave got pastthe McComb Lady Tigers 64-60.

Division 6-4A will be matched with Division 5-4A in the openinground of the South State 4A playoffs. Girls action gets under wayMonday. Forest Hill hosts Wayne County. Northeast Lauderdale willvisit Sinclair Gym to take on Brookhaven. McComb will be at 5-4Achampion Northeast Jones. Port Gibson travels to 5-4A runner-upQuitman.

Boys play begins Tuesday. Forest Hill hosts South Jones. McCombwelcomes Quitman, Port Gibson travels to 5-4A runner-up WayneCounty and BHS makes its way to Lauderdale County to take on 5-4Achampion Northeast Lauderdale.

All South State 4A opening round playoff games are set to tipoff at 7 p.m. Admission is $5.

Forest Hill 36, Brookhaven 29

The teams played an evenly-matched first and third quarter. Eachteam was able to match the other, following a scoring spurt.

The Lady Panthers (27-5) were doomed by poor shooting in thegame. Brookhaven shot 29 percent (14 of 48) from the floor,including a 0-for-9 clip from beyond the 3-point arc.

“We did not shoot the ball well tonight,” said Ole Brook headcoach Freda Craft. “We have to put the ball in the basket.”

The game was tied a 6-all entering the second frame. The LadyRebels, coached by Tommy Groves, carried a 16-12 advantage into thehalftime locker room. Forest Hill would lead 24-20 at the end ofthe third quarter.

Brookhaven had numerous opportunities to score in the final 8minutes. Missed shots and inability to foul and put Forest Hill onthe free throw line were the deciding factors in the game.

Forest Hill junior point guard Bianca Powell led all scorerswith 14 points and 6 rebounds. Dandy Dozen junior center CourtneyMarbra had 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Nikki Byrd led Ole Brook with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Forest Hill 61, McComb 58

The Tigers (25-5) raced out to a commanding 22-9 lead at the endof the first quarter. Mitchell Thompson (inside) and Derrick Harris(outside) were the catalyst for head coach Hilton Harrell.

The Rebels (24-6) fought back behind the 3-point shooting ofguards Terrence Bennett (3), Joshua Moore (2) and Andre Stringer.Forest Hill, coached by Clay Norton, trailed 32-30 and theintermission and 48-46 entering the final frame.

Thompson became a one-man wrecking crew in the fourth. He wasunable to get any help from his teammates down the stretch.Thompson led McComb with 17 points.

Terrell Kennedy paced Forest Hill with 17 points. Moore tossedin 10 points. Stringer had 9 points and dished out a game-high 11assists.

Port Gibson 58, Brookhaven 49

The Panthers (15-18) got 22 points from forward Chad Hall.Freshman center Frederick Fairman tossed in 10 points for headcoach Ronald Hines.

The Blue Wave (16-13) was led by Dominique Ratliff with 22points.

“We struggled playing back-to-back games,” said Panther headcoach Ronald Hines.

Port Gibson 64, McComb 60

The Lady Wave (11-19) were led by eighth-graders Regena Grigsbywith a game-high 23 points and Eugena Grigsby with 12 points.Shannon Johnson poured in 15 points for head coach HaroldLiggins.

The Lady Tigers (20-11), coached by Angela Johnson, got 18points from April Johnson and 10 points from Portia Craft.