It official! The Brookhaven Academy Lady Cougars are still theNo. 1 MPSA girls team in the state following Thursday night’s big42-28 win over the Jackson Academy Lady Raiders in John R. GrayGymnasium.

In the varsity boys game, Jackson Academy took advantage of a13-2 run in the second quarter to stop Brookhaven Academy63-51.

The Lady Cougars improved to 29-0 on the seasonand remain 10-0 in division play. The Lady Raiders fall to16-7overall.

“We did really good on the defensive end,” said BrookhavenAcademy girls coach Barry Gray. “We started off very slow in thefirst quarter. We done the things we needed to win the game.”

The BA girls led JA 9-6 in a slow first quarter. At halftime,the Lady Cougars pushed ahead 21-14 following a 12-8 run. An 11-1run by BA in the third quarter gave the hosts a 32-15 advantagegoing in to the final frame.

“BA is very good as a ball club,” stated Jackson Academy girlscoach Jan Sojourner. “They work very hard together to win games. Weplayed extremely hard but BA’s press really hurt us. We also couldnot hit our shots.”

Powering BA with 13 points and five rebounds was Kelli Byrd.Kristian Davidson netted 11 points, pulled down 12 rebounds andmade three steals. Jessie Altman collected five rebounds and LaurenSmith had four assists.

Leading JA with 11 points, 10 rebounds and four steals wasJalessa Taylor. Courtney Kowalski grabbed seven rebounds followedby Anna Watson with five.

Jackson Academy 63, Brookhaven Academy 51

In the boys game, the poor scoring in the second quarter put theCougars down 32-18 at halftime. BA outscored JA 17-15 in the thirdquarter and each team had 16 points apiece in the final frame.

The win improved the Raiders record to 21-2 on the season andthey remaining 7-0 in division play. The Cougars remain undefeatedin district at 10-0 and are now 23-3 overall.

“This is a great place to play and to get ready for theplayoffs,” said Jackson Academy coach Bill Ball. “Coach (Dale)Watts does a great job with his team and they always played hard.The difference in the game was we were able to get the ball insideto four posted players. They combine total 45 points.”

Directing JA to the win with a game-high 26 points and 11rebounds was Tyler Winford. Wright Busching netted 11 points. Alsocollecting 11 rebounds was Sandro Norris.

“JA has an outstanding team,” stated Watts. “They challenge usin some of our weak areas. The bottom line is this game is nothingbut pitch, catch and shoot. We must improve and get better.”

Seth Davis led the Cougars with 14 points and five rebounds.Cole Hodges fired in 12 points, grabbed five rebounds, made twosteals and had seven assists.

Junior high games

The JA girls clipped BA 31-24. Holly Case paced the Lady Cougarswith 10 points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists.

The Lady Raiders got 12 points from Marg Brook Traxler.

The JA boys knocked off BA 60-55. T-Boy Lynchdirected the Cougars with 17 points. Kolby Byrd and Sawyer scored12 points apiece.

Brookhaven Academy travels to Columbia Academy tonight.