Brookhaven Academy basketball fans witnessed two lopsidedvarsity victories Tuesday night in John R. Gray Gymnasium asSilliman Institute of Clinton, La. suffered the consequences. TheLady Cougars bashed Silliman 63-33 and the Cougars overpowered theWildcats 74-34 as both Brookhaven teams remained undefeated.

Brookhaven Academy hosts Hattiesburg Presbyterian for six gamesSaturday, starting with seventh grade action at 2 p.m. The varsitygirls game starts at approximately 6 p.m.

The Lady Cougars (14-0) ran and full-courtpressed their way to a 34-20 halftime lead and steadily increasedthe point spread. Directing the triumph was guard Lauren Smith with14 points and 5 assists. Guard Kelli Byrd chipped in 10 points asBarry Gray began substituting earlier than usual against theonce-powerful opponent.

“Our passing wasn’t real sharp but we competed hard,” said Gray.”Our press worked pretty good and the defensive effort wasgood.”

Silliman (3-7), two years removed from winning the MPSA OverallTournament, only has one senior on the team in Adrienne Phares. Sheand center Lauren Amacker scored 9 points apiece.

Gray said Silliman was the last team to beat the Lady Cougars ontheir home floor and that was 4 1/2 years ago. The Lady Wildcatsare under the direction of first-year coach Jeff Manchester.

Early in the fourth quarter, Mallory Logan sank a reverse,baseline layup, giving the BA girls a 26-point, 56-30 lead. Loganmade 8 assists in the game. On the backboards, senior center AnnaGatlin directed the win with 8 rebounds plus 8 points and 4 steals.Jessie Altman had 6 rebounds.

The Cougars (6-0) also went on a scoring spreelast night, dominating a physically strong Silliman squad withsuperior quickness and depth. Guard Craig Smith directed thetriumph with 15 points, 5 steals and 4 assists. Trey Waldropaccounted for 10 points and 8 rebounds.

Brookhaven Academy boys coach Dale Watts said Silliman made animpressive start before folding. “Silliman looked like they werereal intense and were going to do some things early in thegame.

“Our team is pretty quick and we created some turnovers in thefirst quarter,” Watts added. “We preach rebounding and our kidsblocked out well. We were unselfish on offense.”

The Cougars ran and shot their way to a 23-6 first-quarteradvantage and led 46-11 at halftime. Watts played his entire team.Alex Davis grabbed 4 rebounds.

Silliman (4-2), dropping to Class AA this season, was led byBrandon LeBlanc’s 12 points.

Junior High Triumphs

The Lady Cougars (11-3) whipped Silliman 44-25 in the juniorhigh contest, led by Emily Langley’s 26 points., Holly Case added 6points and 6 steals.

Nine points by Taylor Tynes led Silliman in scoring.

In the junior high boys game, Brookhaven romped to a 62-36victory, led by Jeremy Winborne and Steve Covington, with 12 and 11points respectively. Seth Davis chipped in 8 points, Price Sessums7 and Bobby McGuffie and Wesley Taylor 6 apiece for the 5-1Cougars.

Silliman got 14 points from Dustin Butler and 9 from BenShirley.