The Brookhaven Panthers and the West Lincoln Lady Bears were victorious in Thursday night basketball action at Jack Case Gymnasium.

In the girls’ contest, the Lady Bears captured a 72-50 win over the Lady Panthers.

In boys’ action, strong offensive and defensive pressure in the second and third quarters lifted Brookhaven to a 64-36 win over West Lincoln.

West Lincoln will return to action Monday as it hosts Natchez Cathedral for three games. The junior varsity girls will tip off at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity games.

Brookhaven will be in action Saturday as it hosts the Wesson Cobras for its first home of the season at Sinclair Gymnasium. Tip off begins at 4 p.m.

Lady Bears 72, Lady Panthers 50 

The Lady Bears took control of the first quarter as they grabbed an early 17-4 lead. In the second frame, the Lady Panthers roared back with a 16-13 run to trail West Lincoln 31-20.

In the second half, West Lincoln outscored Brookhaven 25-12 in the third quarter and coasted to the win.

“The girls came out and played hard to start the game, but Brookhaven did a great job fighting back in the first half, ” said West Lincoln coach Lane Young. “We committed 21 turnovers in the first half. We will not win many games if we continue to commit that many turnovers. Overall, I was pleased with our efforts, but we still have a lot of room for improvement.”

Hanna Moak powered the Lady Bears (2-2) with 23 points and five rebounds. Demesha Deer had a double-double performance of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Alli Mullins and Jana Case chipped in with 13 points and both had four rebounds each. Carly Holden had five points. Layton Sills scored four points and Skylar Hall netted three points.

Asia Byrd directed the Lady Panthers (0-3) in scoring with nine points. Arnancy Arnold chipped in with eight points. Jada Henderson provided seven points. Taylor Carter and Cheyenne Motley scored six points each, Tamia Stallings had four points and four rebounds. Johnique James scored three points. Motley was the top rebounder for BHS with five boards.

“The girls played hard,” said BHS coach Preston Wilson. “We made a lot improvement since the last game and I am proud of the girls, but we still must continue to work to get better.”

Brookhaven 64, West Lincoln 36 

In the opening period, the Bears and the Panthers fought in a close contest as BHS held a 11-9 lead.

In the second and third quarters, Brookhaven (3-0) outscored West Lincoln 34-11 to lead 45-20. In the final period, the Brookhaven held on to beat West Lincoln (1-3) with a 19-16 run to close out the contest.

“We started off slow, but managed to find our rhythm in the second quarter, when our defensive pressure caused West Lincoln to turnover the ball for some easy transition baskets,” said BHS coach Jimmie Butler. “Overall, I was pleased with our team effort.”

Garrick Smith powered the Panthers’ attack with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Lazorian McNulty chipped in with 13 points and four rebounds. Damarius Brooks netted 11 points and had four rebounds. Shon Blackwell and Darrian Wilson contributed seven points each. Jaquorius Davis and Marte Jones scored three points apiece. Danarius Gray and Darius Bryant had two points each.

Ronnie Edwards paced the Bears’ offense with 18 points and six rebounds. Keshaun London contributed nine points and led on boards with eight rebounds. Dominique Chism netted four points. Adam Martinez scored three points and Landon Lynch had two points.

“The guys played hard against a extremely quick and talented Brookhaven team,” said Young. “The guys competed until the very end and I was very proud of their effort.”