The North Pike Jaguars couldn’t handle Brookhaven’s one-two punch of forwards Fred Fairman and Fabion Gibson, and fell to the Panthers 66-42 Monday.
The Jaguars dropped to 3-5 on the season with the defeat on the first day of the McComb Holiday Basketball Tournament at the McComb High gym.
Fairman’s 13 points and 12 points from Gibson weren’t eye-popping numbers, but the pair dominated the boards and shut down any inside penetration from the Jaguars. North Pike was forced to the perimeter, where the Jaguars struggled with missed shots and poor ball handling. North Pike had 13 turnovers in the second half alone.
The loss left a clearly frustrated North Pike head coach Keith Russ nearly speechless.
“Brookhaven’s a good team,” were the only words Russ had after his Jaguars were beaten by the Panthers (10-1) for the third time this month.
Trailing 27-16 in the second period, North Pike pulled to within 28-22 on a Ferdinand Jenkins runner in the opening moments of the third quarter.
However, Brookhaven went on a 14-2 run fueled by Fairman, who split two defenders on the left wing and went in for the layup as he was fouled. Fairman added the free throw to complete the three-point play and extend the margin to 40-24. Gibson followed with a slam-dunk to push the lead to 42-24.
Brookhaven led 54-29 after three periods.
In girls’ action, North Pike head girls’ basketball coach Lance Golmon had one message for his team following the Lady Jaguars’ 55-41 loss to the Brookhaven Panthers on Monday: Keep shooting.
Golmon hoped the added attempts would help the Lady Jaguars improve their shooting after they missed their last 18 shots from the field — most from within 15 feet — and eight of their final 10 free throws to fall to 5-3 on the season during the first day of the McComb Holiday Basketball Tournament at the McComb High gym.
“You can’t miss those shots,” Golmon said. “I’m frustrated, but the effort was there.
“We did everything the right way,” Golmon added. “The ball just didn’t go in. There’s not a lot you can do about that. It just wasn’t our day.”
The loss marked the first in three games against Brookhaven this season. The two teams last met Dec. 11 at Brookhaven, with North Pike winning 59-57.
On Monday night, however, the Lady Panthers led the entire game.
North Pike pulled to within 41-38 on consecutive left baseline jumpers from Shanika Turner, but went cold for the game’s final seven minutes. The Lady Jaguars’ final three points came on two free throws from Olivia Kennedy and one from Kaylen Hughes.
“(Brookhaven) came out in a 3-2 defense and it frustrated us some,” Golmon said, “but the middle was open all night. We just couldn’t make the shots.”
Brookhaven guard Maleysia Burnett’s jumper from the left wing at the first-quarter buzzer put the Lady Panthers ahead 15-9.
North Pike pulled to within 15-14 on Turner’s three-pointer from the left baseline for three of her team-high 14 points.
But the Lady Jaguars went cold, missing their next four shots.
Brookhaven, meanwhile, went on an 8-0 run, before Shanika Turner’s runner off the right baseline cut the margin to 23-16 with 3:28 before halftime.
Kennedy followed with a three-pointer from the right wing to slice the deficit to 25-19, but the Lady Jaguars missed three shots and turned the ball over four in their final seven possessions of the first half. Brookhaven led 29-19 at halftime.
North Pike was slated to take on Tylertown in the holiday tournament today. The girls were slated to tip off at 12:30, followed by the boys’ game at 2.
