This is a hot time in Brookhaven Academy’s John R. GrayGymnasium. The Mississippi Private School Association’s Class AAState Tournament always seems to bring out the best in the Cougarsand Lady Cougars.

This week the BA teams are on their home turf. That means theyhave an advantage. Their fans turn out in record numbers to provideencouragement. The Cougar Crazies, a.k.a. BA students, dress in allkinds of crazy attire and stand behind the home bench, screamingencouragement on every play.

The electric atmosphere reminds me of the Duke-North Carolinagames that are so intense and filled with action. If the game slowsdown, just watch the fans for a few minutes and you will get yourmoney’s worth.

Brookhaven Academy boasts one of, if not the best basketballfacility in the Mississippi Private School Association. The recentremodeling job certainly improved the appearance and the overallexperience for the fans.

Friday’s semifinals and Saturday’s finals will pack the gym toan overflow capacity. It should be fun to watch. Girls games are inthe afternoon both days and the boys play at night.

Meanwhile, Bogue Chitto hopes to pull some additional fans tothis weekend’s South Mississippi Class 1A Girls Tournament.Semifinals are Friday and the finals are Saturday. The twofinalists and the consolation game winner will advance to the MHSAAState Basketball Tournament in Jackson’s Mississippi Coliseum. Itbegins next week.

Bogue Chitto and West Lincoln are fierce archrivals in the 1Aranks but Bogue Chitto was hoping the Lady Bears would be joiningthe Lady ‘Cats in R.L. “Bob” Calhoun Gymnasium this weekend.Unfortunately, the Lady Bears were eliminated by South Leake Mondaynight in the opening round of the South playoffs.

West Lincoln receives plenty of community support and it’s ashort trip to Bogue Chitto. That large flock of dollar bills withwings attached and floating though the air might have been anoptical elusion. The mugshot resembled a Bear instead of GeorgeWashington.

Congratulations to the Bogue Chitto and Enterprise boysbasketball teams. Although neither of them is going to make it tothe state basketball tournament in Jackson, the Yellow Jackets andBobcats made some giant improvements under first-year headcoaches.

The Bobcats (15-16), coached by Curt Crain, doubled their wintotal from last season. The Jackets (10-18), under the direction ofJohn Knight, won more games this season than they have in the lastfive seasons combined.

Crain and Knight are two young men with a strong desire to besuccessful in the coaching business. They’re both looking forwardto next season.

Jones County Junior College is expected to host the MACJC StateBasketball Tournament, starting Monday and running throughThursday. Both Copiah-Lincoln Community College teams havequalified for the state tourney and the Lady Wolves (21-2, 10-1)are seeded No. 1 out of the South Division. The Wolves (13-11,7-4), coached by Dennis Sims, are seeded No. 4 in the South andwill catch Itawamba, the North No. 1, in next Tuesday’s action.

On Monday, Coach Gwyn Young’s Lady Wolves tackle the No. 4 seedout of the North. The semifinals for the men and women are nextWednesday and the finals are Thursday. The following week, March2-5, is reserved for the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament at MississippiCollege in Clinton.

Alton Greenlee, retired Co-Lin baseball, football and golfcoach, fired a 6-under par 64 at the Brookhaven Country Club justone week after his 70th birthday, Feb. 3.

Playing with Coach Greenlee were Wayne Wilson, Glenn Murray,Scott Murray and Roland Ross.

Ross said he never saw such a brilliant display of putting.”When you get our age, very few people in the world can shoot theirage.”

Greenlee said the greens “were rolling so good. “You would haveto travel many miles to find greens as good as the BrookhavenCountry Club.”

He had high praise for Harold Burt, the BCC’s veterangreenskeeper.

Wayne Wilson was on the opposing team and jokingly said Greenleereally wasn’t that good. But teammate Ross said, “Don’t besurprised, because Alton is very coachable.”

Greenlee fired seven birdies and one bogey in his milestoneround.

Congratulations to 14-year-old Jacob Ross for his strong showingin the Wolfpack Junior Golf Championship at the Wolf Hollow GolfClub. Ross fired rounds of par-72 and 1-over 73 for a 2-day totalof 145 to run away with the championship.

Write to sports editor Tom Goetz, c/o The DAILY LEADER, P.O. BOX551, Brookhaven, MS 39602 or e-mail sports@dailyleader.com