MENDENHALL – The Brookhaven Academy Cougars and Lady Cougars lost a pair of varsity games to the Simpson Academy Cougars in an non-divisional contest in MAIS basketball action at Simpson Academy.

In the girls’ contest, the Lady Cougars of Brookhaven Academy suffered a tough 33-30 defeat to Simpson Academy.

In boys’ action, the Simpson Academy Cougars roared past the Brookhaven Academy Cougars to gain a 60-36 victory.

BA will resume action Monday as they finish up their District 5-AA race and regular season on the road in Prentiss. The Cougars and Lady Cougars will face the Prentiss Christian Saints in a make-up contest. The varsity girls will begin action at 6 p.m., followed by the boys.

Simpson Acad. 33, BA 30 

The Mendenhall-based Lady Cougars came out and quickly overpowered BA in the first quarter of play to a 10-0 lead.

In the second quarter, BA rallied back to outscore Simpson Academy 15-13 but still trailed at halftime 23-15.

In the second half, the Lincoln County-based Lady Cougars (10-18, 5-2) continued to overpower Simpson Academy with a 6-2 run in the third quarter and a 9-8 push in the fourth quarter but fell short at end of their comeback.

Hillary Wilson paced BA’s offense with 17 points and six rebounds. Bailey Stewart was the leader on the boards with 10 rebounds. Anna Kathryn Smith contributed seven points and grabbed three rebounds.

Molly Shotts directed Simpson Academy’s offense with 13 points.

 Simpson Acad. 60, BA 36 

In the final battle of Cougars, BA (15-12, 5-2) managed to take control of the first quarter to lead 9-7.

In the second quarter, Simpson Academy surged back into the action as they outscored BA 17-7 to carry a 24-16 lead into halftime.

In the second half of play, Simpson Academy continued to overwhelm BA with a 36-20 push in the final two frames to collect the win.

Peyton Hoods was the offensive leader for BA with 21 points and eight rebounds. Austin contributed eight points and had two rebounds. Drake Flowers scored five points and grabbed two rebounds. Trent Nettles helped on the boards with five rebounds, seven assists and added two points. Ross Felder collected four rebounds.

Sam McWilliams led Simpson Academy’s offensive attack with 20 points, Jacob Berry chipped in with 18 points.