Brusly builds first-half lead, holds on to beat Northshore 53-47

Brusly built a double-digit lead in the first half and held off a Northshore charge in the second half to take a 53-47 victory on Day 1 of the Denham Springs Tournament Thursday night.

The Lady Panthers played at Walker High Thursday, one of the tournament's three sites.

Thursday's win was Brusly's fifth in a row and the team improved to 8-1 on the season.

"It was a win. We were a bit sloppy, but we weathered it," said Brusly coach Shawn Bradford. "I trust these girls. I trust the team. Today, we just didn't have it. We can't afford this night in and night out. Hopefully, this is just a one-time thing and we can come back with a better showing."

Junior guard Laila Clark led all scorers with a game-high 18 points. Tia Anderson added 14 and Alaiah Jarrell had 12 points.

Brusly got off to a slow start but things started to click midway through the first quarter. The Lady Panthers held a 16-8 lead at the end of the first.

Brusly opened the second quarter on a 10-2 run and grabbed a 26-10 lead. Northshore responded by closing the first half on a 14-0 run to cut the deficit to 26-24 at halftime.

The game stayed close throughout the third, with Brusly clinging to a 34-32 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Clark's layup with 3:30 remaining boosted Brusly's lead to 46-39.

"I think having coach Morgan (Carrier) coming in. She's put a punctuation mark on our defense that was already stellar," Bradford said. "She came in with a great plan and some nights when you go out and can't play according to plan, you have to make a change. We made a few adjustments and then pulled it out in the end."

Brusly continues in the tournament on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. at Walker High School against Thibodaux.