Laura Beth Wright tossed in 21 points and Anna Katelyn Mangoldadded 16 in leading the Brookhaven Academy Lady Cougars to a 67-31Monday night victory over the Simpson County Academy girls in theopening round of the BA Holiday Classic. Terah Winborne added 13points and 7 steals as BA’s girls advanced to tonight’s 6 p.m.semifinals in John R. Gray Gymnasium.

The Lady Cougars (14-2) will play Bowling Green tonight. BowlingGreen won twice Monday as the Lady Buccaneers beat Parklane Academy35-31 and Copiah 44-30.

In other Monday girls games, Hillcrest Christian School sackedOak Forest 38-28 and East Rankin crushed Natchez Trinity 62-51.Hillcrest plays East Rankin at 4 p.m. today in the other semifinalsgame.

In the consolation bracket, Parklane meets Copiah at 11 a.m. andOak Forest plays Trinity at 1:30.

Brookhaven 67, Simpson 31

The BA girls roared to a 26-11 halftime lead and blitzed thevisitors 24-10 in the third quarter. Mangold had 9 rebounds in thewin. Anna Lofton dished out 5 assists and made 3 steals. Wright andMary Lindsey Magee each had 6 rebounds.

“Our effort was good and we outrebounded our opponent by a largemargin,” said BA coach Barry Gray. “Our shooting wasn’t sharp but Iwas pleased with our overall effort.”

Simpson (5-8), coached by Mitch Mitchell, got 10 points eachfrom Natalie Sullivan and Christa Smith.

“It was a tough matchup for us,” said Mitchell, who formerlycoached at Copiah and Columbia Academy. “Coach Gray has a goodgroup and a tough team.”

B. Green 35, Parklane 31

Fifteen points by Malayah Dykes led Bowling Green past Parklane.The Lady Pioneers were led by Emily Alford’s 11 points.

East Rankin 62, Trinity 51

All-state guard Brooke Rhodes poured in 32 points for EastRankin. Trinity got 20 points from Bethany Gaden.

Hillcrest 38, Oak Forest 28

Nineteen points by Breanna Howard led Hillcrest over Oak Forest.The Lady Jackets got 9 points each from Ashlyn Neal and JessicaMcClendon.

Bowling Green 44, Copiah 30

Beth Reedy’s 13 points paced Bowling Green past Copiah. A14-point effort by Madelon Cline led the Lady Colonels inscoring.