Brookhaven swept a pair of high school basketball games fromHazlehurst Tuesday night in Sinclair Gymnasium. The Lady Panthers,behind a game-high 28 points from junior guard Kearra Collins,rolled to a 72-41 win over the Lady Indians. The Panthers used abalanced scoring effort to hold off a stubborn Indian squad66-62.

Brookhaven opens play in the Brookhaven Tournament Thursdayagainst Crystal Springs around 7 p.m. with the girls game; followedat 8:30 by the boys contest. Hazlehurst tackles Clinton in theForest Hill Invitational Thursday at 4 and 5:30.

Brookhaven 72, Hazlehurst 41

The Lady Panthers (3-2) held the hot hand in the opening 16minutes. After entertaining a 14-4 first-quarter lead, Old Brookjetted to a commanding 36-14 lead at the intermission. Brookhavenhead coach Freda Craft saw her ball club shoot a blistering 65percent (17 of 24) from the floor.

The Lady Indians (1-1) were plagued by 17 first-half turnovers andfinished with 29 for the game.

“This is just our second game this year,” said Lady Indian headcoach Chastidy Sandifer. “We are not scoring enough points.”

Sandifer, who played for Craft when Craft was the head coach atHazlehurst, served as her assistant at BHS last year. Hazlehursthad opened the season with a 37-33 win over Ridgeland.

The Lady Indians only scored 5 points in the final 8 minutes.

Ole Brook finished shooting a 58 percent clip (32 of 58) from thefloor, and 66 percent (8 of 12) from the charity stripe. The LadyPanthers had 19 turnovers, but were outrebounded 32-28 byHazlehurst.

“We shot the ball well tonight,” Coach Craft commented. “We mustblock out better and cut down on turnovers.”

Lending support for the Lady Panthers were Maleysia Burnett with 12points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Desiree Benson tossed in 10points. Ashley Gayten led off the backboards with 6 rebounds.Collins and Gayten each had 2 steals. Burnett and Amber Dickeydished out 4 assists apiece.

Junior Jasmine James paced Hazlehurst with 13 points, 8 reboundsand 2 assists. Jeffrenique Levi and Manada Pendleton each had 2steals.

Brookhaven 66, Hazlehurst 62

The Panthers (4-1) continued their winning ways, but head coachRonald Hines is still looking for a complete game. His team heldseveral double-digit leads in the game, but Hazlehurst would not goaway easily.

“It was a good win, but we have to do a better job in closing gamesout in the end,” said Coach Hines. “We need a complete fourquarters; a team effort.”

Brookhaven led 22-16 after one period, and 34-30 at the halftimebreak

Hazlehurst, under the direction of Robert McDaniel, Jr., cut theirdeficit to 2 points at 64-62 with 24 seconds left in the game on abasket by Issac Smith.

The Panthers made it a 2-possession game with 7 seconds left on theclock, on a pair of free throws by senior forward Chad Hall.Hazlehurst tried to put Ole Brook on the free throw line in thefinal minutes, but the Indians had too many fouls to give.

Brookhaven’s Marcus McGee led all scorers with 19 points, 7rebounds and 2 steals. Donaldmetric Blue pumped 14 points andgrabbed 12 rebounds. Hall and Frederick Fairman each had 10 points.Rejavion Stewart dished out 4 assists. McGee, Stewart and KeithJohnson had 2 steals apiece.

Hazlehurst was led by Torrey Quinn with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3assists and 2 steals. The Indians committed 26 turnovers, comparedto 24 by the Panthers. Ole Brook held a 28-21 advantage inrebounding.