Brookhaven opened the home portion of their schedule againstPiney Woods in the Piney Woods FCA Classic Thursday night. Bothteams started out slow but the home teams came away with 2 wins atthe Sinclair Gym.

The Lady Panthers held a 29-point lead at one point beforehanding the Piney Woods Lady Tornadoes a 52-31 loss. The Panthersgot a game-high 21 points from senior forward Jasper Hall to aidhis teammates to a 73-58 win over the Piney Woods Tornadoes.

Brookhaven defeated Piney Woods 41-34 in the preliminary JV boysgame.

Brookhaven participates in the second annual Old Brook ClassicSaturday, at the Sinclair Gym. Action gets under at 10:15 a.m. witha JV boys game featuring Brookhaven and Clinton. The Lady Panthersmeet the Madison Central Lady Jaguars at 7 p.m., followed by thePanthers and the Vicksburg Gators at 8:30 p.m.

The Lady Panthers (2-0) got the early jump on the LadyTornadoes, claiming a 17-6 lead heading into the second period.Brookhaven got a balanced scoring effort with 8 different playersputting on the board for head coach Billy Holmes. Anna Autman ledthe charge with 7 of her game-high 11 points in the first half.Autman also had 9 rebounds and 3 assists.

Piney Woods (0-2), coached by Barbara Holloway, could not findan answer for the Lady Panthers offensive prowess in the secondquarter. The Lady Tornadoes trailed 30-19 at halftime.

Bench production played a big part in Brookhaven’s attack.Blanche Wilson came off the bench to score 10 points, including apair of treys, dished out 3 assists and had 3 steals. Ashley Sykespumped in 4 points and pulled down 7 rebounds. Portia Dickey had 3steals.

The Lady Panthers held a 42-30 rebounding edge. Brookhavencommitted 26 turnovers and forced the Lady Tornadoes in 33miscues.

“Everyone got to play tonight,” said Holmes. “Our bench has donea good job for us.”

Brookhaven led 47-18 entering the fourth quarter.

Piney Woods got 8 points apiece from Latoya Crooks and AprilWilliams.

The Panthers (2-0) had a tough time with thefaster Tornadoes, even though they led 18-13 at the end of thefirst quarter. Brookhaven committed numerous turnovers during theopening 8 minutes. Hall and Jermaine Culver scored 4 points apiecein the period.

“We didn’t play as well as we should have,” said head coachRonald Hines. “We had too many turnovers.”

Culver, a 6-foot-4 senior, continued his hot shooting in thesecond period, knocking down a pair of 3-point baskets. Hall added4 points and the Panthers started to pull away from the Tornadoes,leading 37-23 at the intermission. Culver finished the game with 17points and 3 assists.

Piney Woods (1-1) got within 8 points, 47-39 on an old-fashion3-point play by Leonard Conway. The Tornadoes still trailed 56-43at the end of the third quarter.

Hall also provided support with 9 rebounds and blocking 7Tornado shots. Rodney Daniels had 14 points, 9 rebounds and blocked5 shots. Joaquin Smith dished out 5 assists. Scott Pickett andGanerio Richardson had 3 assists.

Piney Woods, coached by Bob Tripp, got 13 points from RooseveltOverton.

Both teams committed 26 turnovers. Brookhaven outrebounded PineyWoods 34-30, but the Tornadoes held an 18-14 edge on the offensiveboards.

In the JV boys game, Jerome Avery led Brookhaven with 13 points.Piney Woods was led by Deondre Martin, with a game-high 16points.