The Brookhaven Lady Panthers jetted past the Northwest RankinLady Cougars 72-30 Thursday night in the semifinal round of theBrookhaven Invitational Tournament, in Sinclair Gym. Junior centerNikki Byrd led the Ole Brook charge with 20 points, 16 rebounds, 2blocked shots, 4 steals and 3 assists.

In other semifinal action, the South Pike Lady Eagles defeatedMcComb 62-44. The McComb Tigers dialed long distance; to the tuneof a 96-57 win over the Hinds AHS Bulldogs.

The Wilkinson County Wildcats escaped Northwest Rankin60-54.

A plethora of 8 games will served Saturday morning beginning at10 a.m. with loser’s bracket games featuring Hinds AHS andTylertown girls. At 11:30, it will be South Pike boys againstTylertown. The West Lincoln Lady Bears play Wilkinson County at 1,following by the Brookhaven/West Lincoln boys at 2:30.

In the consolation finals, the McComb girls meet NW Rankin at 4with the Hinds AHS boys and NW Rankin at 5:30.

The championship finals will have the Brookhaven girls meetingSouth Pike. The boys title game features McComb and WilkinsonCounty. The Wildcats handed the Tigers their only loss of theseason.

Brookhaven 72, Northwest Rankin 30

The Lady Cougars (2-3) were at a definitely height disadvantage.NW Rankin was outrebounded 48-17, including a 21-5 deficit on theoffensive boards.

It took only one period for Ole Brook to get in gear on theoffensive end of the floor. Over the final 3 quarters, the LadyPanthers outdistanced the Lady Cougars 62-25; scoring 16 points offof 27 NW Rankin turnovers.

Lending support for head coach Freda Craft’s ladies with 12points apiece were Swayze Black, Kayla Harris and Jermecia Jones.Black, Harris and Monte’ Wilson each had 3 steals. Harris had 3assists.

For NW Rankin, Alisha McAfee led the way with 11 points.

South Pike 62, McComb 44

The Lady Eagles (3-1) outscored McComb 21-9 in the secondquarter to take a 29-20 lead at halftime. Ivielle Stewart tossed in8 of her game-high 15 points in the period.

McComb (5-2) was led by Portia Craft and Kenyotta Martin with 8points apiece. Amy Anazia grabbed 6 rebounds. Anazia had Craft eachhad 2 steals. Craft and Trivetra Wilson dished out 2 assistsapiece. The Lady Tigers committed 21 turnovers.

South Pike also got 11 points from Takeya Felder.

McComb 96, Hinds AHS 57

The Tigers (7-1) continue their winning ways with torrid outsideshooting. McComb, coached by Hilton Harrell, sacked 8 treys on thenight. Senior Otis Smith knocked 6 3-pointers and finished with agame-high 29 points. Roteddrick Cotton added 20 points, while ChrisAnazia found his way for 18.

The Bulldogs trailed 39-31 at the intermission. Hinds AHS wasoutscored 57-26 in the second half by McComb. Jacorey Wright ledthe Bulldogs with 18 points.

Wilkinson County 60, NW Rankin 54

The Wildcats (5-0) only had 6 players score, but it would be abalanced attack for head coach Arthur Clark. Mitchell Thompsontopped all scorers with 22 points, followed by Corey Anthony with13 points and Lawrence Cage with 10.

The Cougars were led by Jeremy Cook with 19 points and TheronJenkins with 16.