Brookhaven took care of business Tuesday night and swept theLawrence County Cougars in a Division 6-4A varsity doubleheader.The Lady Panthers posted 35-27 victory, powered by Anna Autman’s 13points.

In the varsity boys game, Rodney Daniels and Jasper Hall eachscored 16 points and Jermaine Culver added 15 as the Panthersdumped Lawrence County 61-54 in Sinclair Gymnasium.

In a preliminary junior varsity boys game, Brookhaven won34-28.

Brookhaven resumes play Friday night at Jackson Jim Hill. SouthPike is at Lawrence County the same night.

The Lady Panthers (15-11, 6-3) mustered enough points toturn back a cold-shooting group of Lawrence County girls. They got12 points from guard Ashley Leggett to support Autman’s presence inthe post. Leggett tossed in 3 treys in the second quarter, sparkingBrookhaven to a 24-18 halftime lead.

Brookhaven girls coach Billy Holmes said he saw somebright spots in the low-scoring game. “We defended pretty well. Ourphilosophy is defense. We are becoming a half-court team on offenseand defense.”

Autman accounted for 14 rebounds and Kristin McCray had7. Leggett and Chiquita Rancifer each made 4 assists.

“We just couldn’t hit tonight,” said LCHS girls coachArchie Ross. He got 11 points from senior post Stacy Smith and 6rebounds from Ronesha Garner.

The Lady Cougars trailed Brookhaven 24-18 at halftimeand only scored 9 second-half points.

The Panthers (13-13, 4-5) weren’t pushed into overtimeto beat the Cougars like they were two weeks ago at Monticello.They still had to overcome a 32-31 halftime deficit.

A trey by Daniels gave the Panthers a 40-39 lead with3:26 left in the third quarter and the Cougars never recovered.Hall followed with a trey and the Panthers went on an 14-2 scoringspree. They led 51-41 starting the fourth quarter.

“We shot our free throws better and we only had 17turnovers tonight,” said BHS boys coach Ronald Hines. “That’sbetter than the 35 turnovers we had against McComb,” last Friday inan overtime loss. at McComb.

“We are the defending division (tournament) championsand we are starting to play better,” Hines pointed out. “We like toplay all of our kids when we have the chance.”

Senior post Philip Tobias led the Panthers on thebackboards with 9 rebounds. Hall had 7 rebounds. Daniels had 5rebounds and 5 assists.

The Cougars (9-12, 3-6), coached by Bobby Lee, reducedtheir deficit to 4 points, 56-52, with 3:30 left, on a trey byVince Newsome but Brookhaven went to a delay and made 5 of 7 freethrows in the final minutes.

Newsome and Justin Middleton each scored 13 points forthe Cougars. Newsome also had 5 assists. Center David Clark had 12points and 6 rebounds before fouling out with 1:22 left toplay.

In the JV boys game, Brookhaven got 12 points fromJerome Avery and 10 from Wade Stewart. The Cougars were led byCraig Tyler’s 13 points.

@Bbstandings:GIRLS

Brookhaven 35, Lawrence County 27

Lawrence Co. (27) Stacy Smith 11, Peyton 2, Garner 6,Bryant 2, Moore 6.

Brookhaven (35) Anna Autman 13, Ashley Leggett 12,Rancifer 1, Kerr 3, McCray 4, Wilson 2.

Total fouls: Lawrence 12. Brookhaven 13. Fouledout-none.

Free Throws M-A: Lawrence 6-12. Brookhaven7-14.

3-point goals: Lawrence 1 (Garner). Brookhaven 4(Leggett 3, Kerr).

Lawrence Co.

7

11

7

2 — 27

Brookhaven

6

18

6

5 — 35

BOYS

Brookhaven 61, Lawrence County 54

Lawrence Co. (54) Justin Middlebrook 13, Vince Newsome13, David Clark 12, Collins 3, Lewis 7, Tyler 2, Williams4.

Brookhaven (61) Rodney Daniels 16, Jasper Hall 16,Jermaine Culver 15, Tobias 6, Thrasher 2.

Total fouls: Lawrence 16. Brookhaven 11. Fouledout-Clark.

Free Throws M-A: Lawrence 13-17.. Brookhaven11-16.

3-point goals: Lawrence 2 (Middlebrook, Newsome).Brookhaven 6 (Daniels 3, Hall 2, Culver).

Lawrence Co.

14

18

9

13 — 54

Brookhaven

15

16

20

10 — 61

JV BOYS

Brookhaven 34, Lawrence County 28

Lawrence Co. (28) Craig Tyler 13, Wallace 4, Smith 4,Harris 3, West 2, Longino 2.

Brookhaven (34) Jerome Avery 12, Wade Stewart 10, Byrd7, Chapman 3.