BROOKHAVEN &045; Here’s further proof that Adams Christian’s boys may indeed be the most dangerous No. 6 seed in MPSA Class AA.

The Rebels led at times in the first half and went into halftime trailing by one to Brookhaven Academy at the John R. Gray gym &045; a place where the Cougars normally beat the opponents’ brains in.

The Cougars (28-1) got hot from the outside in the third quarter and pulled away for a 67-59 win over Adams Christian that fought hard to the end.

&uot;We came in focused for this game,&uot; AC head coach Kyle Smith said. &uot;We did a lot of things we wanted to do and kind of took Brookhaven out of their game. We handled their press real well, and we limited our turnovers real well. Our offense was really patient. We were able to penetrate and get some easy baskets.&uot;

The Cougars held a 35-34 lead at halftime thanks in part to big production from Dustin Case and Casey Gould. The two combined for 29 in the first half.

But the Cougars got hot in the third quarter and out-scored the Rebels 24-10 to lead 59-44 heading into the fourth quarter. They jumped on the Rebels at the start with their pressure, and one Brookhaven shooter got hot from the outside and put up 10 points in the third quarter alone.

&uot;Out of the gate they scored six or eight points off turnovers, and we started breaking their press,&uot; Smith said. &uot;But on offense they would drive in and kick it out to No. 33, and he got hot on us. That hurt us, but we never gave up. I thought we played well.&uot;

Gould led the Rebels (13-11) with 26, while Case had 22.

Brookhaven 54, Adams Christian 23

Katie Ann Swinny played about three minutes at the start and couldn’t go any more due to illness, and the Lady Rebels (21-7) never could get in a rhythm.

They were without one of their best outside shooters, but give credit to the Lady Cougars. Head coach Barry Gray’s club played solid against their coach’s dad and took a 17-2 lead after the first quarter and 29-11 lead at half.

&uot;They’re true to the No. 1 team,&uot; AC head coach John R. Gray said. &uot;They’re super &045; hand speed, foot speed and they can all shoot. They don’t have any weaknesses, and we played poorly. It was just tough. We just had trouble getting a shot off. They’re just so good defensively.&uot;

The Lady Rebels struggled from the floor against a team that was fresh off a huge 39-21 win over Jackson Prep &045; a game where the Class AAA Lady Patriots had just four field goals in the contest at Jackson.

Brookhaven (28-1) out-scored Adams 14-4 in the third to lead 43-15 heading into the fourth.

Brittany Gamberi led ACCS with eight.