MONTICELLO – Brookhaven and Lawrence County split a varsity basketball double-header Friday night at Lawrence County High School. In girls’ play, Vicki Rutland’s Lady Cougars handled the rebuilding Lady Panthers by a 48-23 score. The real action was in the boys’ game, in which Preston Wilson’s Panthers battled back from an early 14-point deficit to win, 49-48.

In boys’ action, Lawrence County used great defense and held Ole Brook’s shooting to forge a 23-9 lead. The Panthers went on a 6-0 run to end the first half, cutting the Cougars’ margin to 23-15. By the end of the third quarter, Brookhaven had trimmed the LCHS lead to two points, 35-33, setting up an exciting final period.

Ole Brook took its first lead on a Shon Blackwell three-pointer with 7:35 left in the game. After that, it was back-and-forth. An Alex Benson three-pointer gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the night, at 48-43, with 2 minutes left. A Keith Davis basket and a Keyshawn Feazell three-pointer, sandwiched around a Benson free throw, cut the Panther lead to 49-48.

In the final 12 seconds of the game, Brookhaven opened the door for Lawrence County by missing the front ends of three consecutive one-and-one opportunities. However, Ole Brook got offensive rebounds after the first 2 misses. Lawrence County rebounded the final miss, but with only 2 seconds remaining and no time outs, the Cougars were unable to get off an effective shot.

“It was tough,” said Wilson, who coached the LCHS Cougars for three seasons between stints at BHS. “They made a good adjustment against our press, and we just couldn’t make a basket in the first half. I’m proud of the way our guys battled back and got it done.”

Tavis Moore led a balanced Brookhaven attack with 10 points and three assists. Garrick Smith added eight points, while Blackwell and Damarius Brooks each had seven. Blackwell had three steals. Darrian Wilson led the Panthers in rebounding with six and nabbed three steals. The Panthers improved to 13-2 with the win.

While the Panthers were racking up with number 13, it was also an encouraging night for Pat Bridges’ Cougars, who lost to Brookhaven by 36 points in early December. This time, the Cougars were competitive to the last second.

“I’m proud of the effort,” Bridges said. “Obviously, we wanted to win the game, but at least we gave ourselves a chance this time. We did better against their press, and I thought we defended much better than last time.”

Keith Davis led LCHS with 20 points. Gabriel Lewis added nine points and five steals. Keyshawn Feazell contributed seven points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. The Cougars fell to 8-6 with the loss.

Vicki Rutland’s girls had a fairly easy time of it. After a competitive first quarter in which the Lady Cougars forged a 10-8 lead, Lawrence County pulled away over the final three periods improving to 8-6 with the victory.

Zipporah Baylis had 14 points, six rebounds and three assists to pace Lawrence County. Freshman Camryn Davis had a “double-double,” with 12 points and 13 rebounds. DeNeisha Dickson, the Lady Cougars’ leading scorer coming into the game, was held to six points by Brookhaven’s aggressive defensive game plan but countered that by grabbing seven steals from the Lady Panthers.

Freda Craft’s Lady Panthers were led by Courtney Brown’s six points. Jada Henderson and Asia Byrd each scored five points.

Lawrence County will travel to Terry on Tuesday, and Ole Brook will host South Pike. Both schools will open division play this Friday.