The Brookhaven Panthers and the Lady Panthers secured a couple of late night victories over the Pearl River Central Blue Devils Monday in the opening round of the Region 6-5A Tournament at Sinclair Gymnasium.

In the girls game, the Lady Panthers survived a late second half surge by the Lady Blue Devils to prevail 32-28 and advance to the championship game.

In boys action, the Panthers tortured the Blue Devils with heavy blast of offensive and defensive power to cruise past Pearl River Central 78-34.

In other tournament action, the Natchez Lady Bulldogs knocked off the Wingfield Lady Falcons 52-27 in girls’ action. In the boys’ game, Wingfield surpassed Natchez in the final minute to win 59-51.

Region 6-5A tournament action will concluded Friday at Sinclair Gym as the Lady Blue Devils take on the Lady Falcons in the girls consolation game at 4 p.m., followed by the boys consolation match between Natchez and Pearl River Central at 5:30 p.m.

In the girls championship game, Natchez battles Brookhaven at 7 p.m. and the Panthers will take on Wingfield in the boys championship game at 8:30 p.m.

Brookhaven 32, PRC 28 

The Lady Panthers and the Lady Blue Devils provided a low scoring defensive ball game for their basketball fans in a late night contest as Brookhaven claimed a 8-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Lady Panthers managed to break up the low scoring contest with a 9-3 push to carry a 17-9 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Lady Blue Devils outscored the Lady Panthers 19-15 in the final two quarters of action, but Brookhaven managed to survive PRC comeback to prevail.

“The girls played really well in the first half,” BHS coach Freda Craft. “Overall, we were very fortunate to collect the win as Pearl River Central made a good comeback in the second half.”

Senior forward Chantel Quarles directed the Lady Panthers’ offense with nine points and had nine rebounds. Kynitria Hill chipped in with eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. Yasmine Hill helped on the boards with seven rebounds and netted five points. Asia Byrd scored five points and gathered four rebounds.

Claire Lumpkin was the top shooter for the Lady Blue Devils with 10 points. Tyionia Bolar contributed six points and Kayla Ryan added five points.

Brookhaven 78, PRC 34

In the boys contest, the Panthers came out and quickly dominated the Blue Devils in the first half of action as they roared a 22-3 lead in the first quarter and continued to clobber PRC in the second quarter with a 25-12 run to take a commanding 47-15 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Brookhaven continued to outscore PRC with a 31-19 push in the final two quarters to collect the win.

“After a long delay and a slow start, the guys responded really well and took care of business to gain the win,” said BHS coach Preston Wilson. “Overall, I was very pleased with my guys efforts.”

The Panthers provided a well-balance scoring attack against PRC as every member manage to get into the scoring spree. Garrick Smith was the scorer for Brookhaven with 14 points. Damarius Brook cashed in 11 points. Randy Wilson was the leader on the boards with six rebounds and scored eight points. Alex Benson and Danarius Gray provided seven points each.

Alex Travis paced the Blue Devils’ offense with 13 points. A.J. Banks chipped in with eight points.

Natchez 52, Wingfield 27 

Skylar Morgan and Kirdis Clark was the offensive leaders for the Lady Bulldogs with nine points apiece. Zyaire Ewing and Rashanae Rice chipped in with six points each.

Briana Thompson was the scorer for the Lady Falcons with 22 points.

Wingfield 59, Natchez 51

LeAndre Thomas powered the Falcons with 11 points. Marcus Roberts contributed 10 points and Robert Washington added nine points.

Dominique Mazique directed the Bulldogs with 19 points. Ja’Darrius Ivory netted 13 points and Daryl Jones scored 12 points.