The Brookhaven Academy Lady Cougars kicked off AA South State Tournament play at Glenbrook School in Minden, Louisiana, Wednesday as they faced a familiar foe in the Amite School Center Lady Rebels. Having secured two regular season wins over the ladies from Liberty, coach Jason Case was content to keep building on their successes against the Lady Rebels from earlier in the year.

Knowing a repeat of the previous meetings would spell the end of the season for the Lady Rebels, ASC brought their A-game, but it just wasn’t enough down the stretch, as the Lady Cougars etched out a highly contested 46-33 win.

The Lady Cougars (27-5) jumped out to a 13-2 advantage early, but that lead was short-lived as the Lady Rebels came roaring back, refusing to fold. BA led by a score of 28-24 at the midway break and 34-33 at the end of the third quarter, fully understanding that their season was hanging on the final eight minutes of play.

Responding to the call, the ladies from BA pitched a 12-0 shutout in the final frame to escape with the win.

Eighth-grader Anne Brantley Warren led BA and all scorers with a 20-point night. Kailyn Jordan tossed in ten points and had nine rebounds in her evening of work. Jana Case and Cameron Watson had seven and six points, respectively, to round out the BA scoring leaders. Case added eight boards to her total.

Lauren Booty led ASC with 12 points.

The Lady Cougars will be back in action today as they face off with the Lamar Christian Lady Lions at 4 p.m.