SALEM – The Brookhaven Academy Cougars andLady Cougars were victorious as they made basketball history Mondaynight. They played their first-ever MHSAA opponent in the SalemWildcats of Walthall County.

    In the girls’ game, the Lady Cougars (10-1) steamrolled the hostLady Wildcats 71-17.

    In boys’ action, the Cougars (6-1) exploded in the second half andoutscored the Wildcats 40-12 as they cruised to an 65-35 win.

    Brookhaven Academy resumes action today at home in John R. GrayGymnasium to host the Oak Forest Yellow Jackets for five games. Theseventh grade boys begin the action at 3:30.

    Salem will be in action tonight as they travel to battle BogueChitto for three games in R.L “Bob” Calhoun Gymnasium. The junior varsity boys will start at5 p.m.

Brookhaven Acad. 71, Salem17

    The girls’ game started several minutes behind schedule due tobeing short one referee, but that did not phase Brookhaven Academy.The Lady Cougars were poised to make a bold statement in theirfirst-ever public school challenge.

    The Lady Cougars came out of the gates on fire in the first quarteras they dismantled the Lady Wildcats by going on a scoring spree of32-4 in the opening quarter. BA cruised to a 51-9 lead at thehalf.

    Senior guard Terah Winborne pumped in a game-high 24 points andgrabbed 10 rebounds to lead BA. Carey Crozier helped the LadyCougars with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Laura Beth Wrightcontributed 10 points.

    “I was very pleased with our overall team effort,” said BA coachGinger Duease. “The girls played extremely hard.

    “This was a history-making experience for us,” continue Duease. “Itwas our first time ever to play Salem and we are very glad to getthe win.”

    The Lady Wildcats (2-5) were led in scoring by three players,Rannesha May, Julia Ann Gray and Ariel Fortenberry, with 4 pointsapiece.

    Salem coach Randy Laird made this comment on the girls and boysgames. “We did not play very well. Brookhaven Academy outplayed andouthustled us through out the game. Overall, we need to continue topractice hard and play together as a team.”

Brookhaven Acad. 65, Salem35

    In the boys’ game, basketball fans watched the Cougars and Wildcatsbattle back and forth in a physical contest of the first half asBrookhaven Academy held a slim 25-23 halftime lead.

    In the second half, the Cougars came out after being inspired bytheir coach, Dale Watts, to overwhelm the Wildcats. BrookhavenAcademy exploded in the third quarter and increased their lead46-33. In the fourth quarter, the Cougars continued to pour on thedefense as they held Salem to just 2 points in the final frame.

    The Cougars had three players to score in double figures. BrockSmith and Zac Smith paced BA with 19 points apiece. Brennan Millerprovided 15 points. Brock Smith was also the leader on the boardwith 13 rebounds. Gage Posey collected 11 rebounds.

    “Salem has some good, athletic players,” said Coach Watts.”Overall, we missed too many easy shots, but the guys played reallyhard.

    “This was a great experience for us as we managed to break thebarrier to play public schools,” continued Watts. “Hopefully thiswill open the door for us to play more local public schools.”

    Justin Lewis and Cameron Robinson were the offensive leaders forthe Wildcats (2-5) with 9 points apiece.