Lady Cougars thump Lady Raiders

Daily Leader / Marty Albright / Brookhaven Academy's Sissy Byrd (15) is fouled by Riverfield's Leilani Williams (20) while attempting to score a basket in girls' action Wednesday night at John R. Gray Gymnasium.

Daily Leader / Marty Albright / Brookhaven Academy’s Sissy Byrd (15) is fouled by Riverfield’s Leilani Williams (20) while attempting to score a basket in girls’ action Wednesday night at John R. Gray Gymnasium.

The Brookhaven Academy Lady Cougars and the Riverfield Raiders closed out BA’s holiday tournament with a victory Wednesday night at John R. Gray Gymnasium.

In the girls’ contest, the Lady Cougars (13-6) overpowered the Lady Raiders in the first half to claim a 53-30 win.

In the boys’ game, the Raiders survived a defensive battle against the Cougars (8-8) to escape with a 25-17 victory.

Brookhaven Academy will a take a few days off before returning to action Tuesday as the Cougars and Lady Cougars host the Adams County Christian School Rebels for four games to begin division play. Junior high action begins at 4 and 5 p.m. The varsity girls will tip off at 6 p.m., followed by the boys at 7:30 p.m.

Lady Cougars 53, Lady Raiders 30 

The Lady Cougars clobbered the Lady Raiders early to claim a 35-9 advantage at halftime.

The Lady Raiders managed to outscore the Lady Cougars 21-18 in the final two quarters, but could not overcome BA’s large lead.

“This was probably the best game our girls have played all year,” said BA coach Josh Watts. “Sissy Byrd stepped up and played a great game for us tonight.”

Sissy Byrd powered the Lady Cougars’ offensive explosion with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds. Kailyn Jordan chipped in eight points and had four rebounds. Bailey Stewart and Anna Michael Smith netted seven points each. Stewart also had five rebounds. Smith had nine assists. Edie Riley provided six points, three steals and two rebounds. Leah Case scored four points and Sophie Wilson added three points.

Marissa Crockett was the top scorer for the Lady Raiders with 10 points. Erin Branch contributed nine points. Taylor Hixon had five points.

Daily Leader / Marty Albright / Brookhaven Academy's Dylan Winborne (right) drives the baseline in Wednesday night action against Riverfield.

Daily Leader / Marty Albright / Brookhaven Academy’s Dylan Winborne (right) drives the baseline in Wednesday night action against Riverfield.

Riverfield 25, Brookhaven Acad. 17

The Cougars and the Raiders battled in a low-scoring contest through four quarters of action. In the opening period, BA secured a slim 5-4 lead.

In the second period, the Raiders put together a late 7-4 run to close out the first half leading 11-9.

The Raiders would win the battle with a 14-8 run in the final two periods.

“We knew coming into the game that we would have to slow Riverfield down to be able to compete with them,” said Watts. “Riverfield has a very talented, well coached team and they are ranked No. 5 in the state. Our guys played extremely hard tonight and we had a good game plan, but we missed too many layup opportunities in the fourth quarter that could have made a difference. Overall, I was very pleased with my guys’ efforts, but we still need to get better.”

Dylan Winborne was the offensive leader for the Cougars with eight points. Austin Smith chipped in six points. Dawson Flowers scored two points. Ethan Nations had one point and was the leader on the boards with five rebounds. Ross Felder finished with four rebounds, five steals and two assists.

Joseph Morris, Noah Wroten and Matthew Weems paced the Raiders with six points each. John Kevin Greer contributed four points. Brennan Shelton had two points and Cole Garrett added one point.

(Girls) Parklane 68, Trinity 39 

Tootsie Carter powered the Lady Pioneers with a game-high 24 points. Taylor Murray scored eight points.

Rearanna Mayberry was the top scorer for the Lady Saints with 12 points. D’Asia Mitchell provided 10 points.

(Boys) ACCS 48, ASC 45 

Devon Spears directed the Natchez-based Rebels with a team-high 20 points. Andrew Ratcliff scored 12 points.

Mason Conerly led the Liberty-based Rebels with 16 points. Dylan Fry had 11 points.

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