After taking down West Harrison Monday night in the opening round of the 5A state playoffs, the Brookhaven Lady Panthers advanced to face West Jones tonight in the next round of the playoffs at West Jones High School in Laurel.

This will be the first meeting between the Lady Panthers and Lady Mustangs this season with a trip to the quarterfinals on the line. Whoever wins will face the winner of West Point and Canton Wednesday night.

The Lady Panthers defeated West Harrison Monday night by a score of 75-66. The Lady Panthers overcame a sloppy first quarter, where they only scored eight points and combined to score 67 points the final three quarters, taking the victory and making it one step further to a possible state championship.

Brookhaven will be facing their toughest task yet trying to take down a dominant West Jones team on the road. The Lady Mustangs enter the playoff matchup with a 22-2 overall record a 7-1 record in their district. Their two losses came against Bay High School in their first game of the season and against Laurel on Feb. 3.

West Jones has been an offensive force, averaging just over 56 points per game and have put teams away early thanks to their aggressive attack. The Lady Mustangs have also cleaned the glass better than most teams, reeling in an average of 34 rebounds per game.

The Lady Mustangs are led by the duo of senior point guard Breonca Duckworth and freshman guard Brikayla Gray. Duckworth leads West Jones in scoring, averaging 13 points with three rebounds and three assists per game. Gray has shown promise all season long as only a freshman, averaging 12 points and eight rebounds per game.

West Jones could cause a lot of problems for the Lady Panthers. The Lady Mustangs have experience on their side with six seniors on the roster. They also have a size advantage compared to Brookhaven, with two players over six-feet tall; both of which are seniors.

The Lady Panthers are a very talented team, but lack in size and experience. Most of their players are sophomores.

Brookhaven comes into the playoff matchup tonight playing their best ball of the season by winning 10 of their last 12 games.

In order to extend their season by at least one more game, they’ll have to pull off the upset against West Jones and if any team is capable of doing so, it’s the Lady Panthers.

Brookhaven will also need a big game from their sophomore point guard Shania Harris and sophomore center Tamia Stallings.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at West Jones High School in Laurel.