The Brookhaven Panthers and Lady Panthers secured a sweep over West Lincoln Thursday night in exciting basketball action at Sinclair Gymnasium.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Panthers captured their first win of the season with a 44-20 win over the Lady Bears.

In boys’ action, the Panthers and the Bears provided an offensive show before Ole Brook managed to elude West Lincoln for a 57-51 victory in the fourth quarter.

Brookhaven resumes action Saturday as they prepare to host their longtime rivals, the McComb Tigers, for two games. The girls’ game tips off at 6 p.m., followed by the boys.

West Lincoln will have the rest of the week to enjoy Thanksgiving break, before returning to action Dec. 3, when they visit their Lincoln County rivals the Bogue Chitto Bobcats for four games. Junior high action begins at 4 and 5 p.m. The varsity action starts with the girls at 6 p.m., followed by the boys.

Brookhaven 44, W. Lincoln 20 

The Lady Panthers (1-4) and the Lady Bears (1-4) battled back and forth in a close contest in the opening quarter as Brookhaven commanded a slim 8-3 lead.

Through the rest of the game, the Lady Panthers outscored West Lincoln 36-17 in the final three frames to captured their first win of the season.

Jessica Wilson pumped in a game-high double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Lady Panthers. Fredericka Fairman help out on the board by grabbing 10 rebounds and chipped in nine points.

“Glad to get our first win of the season,” said BHS coach Freda Craft. “The girls worked hard and stuck to our game plan to get the job done. Overall, I was pleased with our effort, but we still have a lot of things to continue improving on.”

The Lady Bears struggle to their offense going as Karley Smith tried to unite a spark for West Lincoln with six points and four rebounds. Bentley Sill contributed four points.

Brookhaven 57, W. Lincoln 51 

Basketball fans gathered to watch this fierce rivalry as the Panthers and Bears provided an offensive show from start to finish. In the first quarter, Brookhaven secured a 15-13 lead and managed to increase to lead to 36-23 at halftime.

In the second half, West Lincoln battled back to outscore Ole Brook 28-21, but the Panthers managed to hold off West Lincoln’s attack in the closing minute to capture the win and hand the Bears their first loss of the season.

Junior guard Shaquan Richardson pumped in a team-high 15 points to lead the Panthers. Khalil Newton chipped in 11 points. Tavis Moore paced Ole Brook (4-1) on the boards with nine rebounds.

“Glad to get the win,” said BHS coach Preston Wilson. “We came out and played really well in the first half, but started the third quarter flat. West Lincoln is a very good team, and they never give up. They fought back and made it a game at the end.”

Junior Duane Marshall netted a game-high 22 points to lead the Bears (4-1). Ronnie Edwards was the second leading scorer for West Lincoln with 14 points. Javian Mackabee and Marshall were the top rebounders for the Bears with six rebounds apiece.

“We had too many turnovers against a good team, but the guys kept fighting to give ourselves a shot to win it at the end,” West Lincoln coach Lane Young said. “Brookhaven has a very good and athletic team. We just ran out of gas at the end.”