DAILY LEADER / SHERYLYN EVANS / Brookhaven Academy’s Anna Kathryn Smith (right) tries to protect the ball as a Leake Academy defender reaches in to knock it away Tuesday afternoon in Canton.

CANTON – The Brookhaven Academy Lady Cougars travel up North on I-55 to Canton Academy Tuesday afternoon to play in the MAIS State Tournament.

The Lady Cougars (14-22), currently ranked No. 8 in MAIS AA poll, took on the No. 1 ranked Leake Academy Lady Rebels in the opening round. The BA girls fought in a tough battle against the Lady Rebels, but suffered a tough 75-56 loss to conclude their season.

Leake Acad. 75, Brookhaven Acad. 56 

In the first quarter of action, the Lady Rebels came out and quickly overpowered the Lady Cougars to gain a 16-4 advantage.

BA roared back into contest in the second quarter with 20-15 run to trail Leake Academy by seven points at halftime 31-24.

In the third quarter, BA’s confidence continued to grow as they fought to keep the game close as the Lady Rebels carried a 51-42 lead into the final period.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Cougars continued their surge with a 12-7 run to cut Leake Academy’s lead down to 58-54 with less than three minutes left in the game.

However, BA’s luck would run out as the Lady Rebels would put together a 17-2 run to make it look like it wasn’t a close ball game end as the Lady Cougars season came to an end.

Brookhaven Academy had five players to score in double figures as Mary Claire White, Hillary Wilson, Sophie Wilson and Alexis Byrd led the Lady Cougars with 11 points each. Anna Kathryn Smith contributed 10 points. Bailey Stewart scored two points and had two rebounds.

Defensively, White led the team on the board with eight rebounds and four assist. Smith collected six rebounds with two assists. Sophie Wilson gathered five rebounds and had six assists. Hillary Wilson had four rebounds and two assists. Byrd gathered three rebounds and had one assist.

Anna Evans powered the Lady Rebels with 31 points.

Overall, the Lady Cougars should be very proud of the year they had after starting the season 0-12 and battling through numerous injuries throughout the season. These girls did not give up and continued to push forward to make the State Tournament.

The Lady Cougars will be losing three seniors: Hillary Wilson, Anna Kathryn Smith, and Mary Claire White, after eight seasons of service. The future looks very bright for these girls as they prepare for next season.