Brusly routs Jennings, punches ticket to Hammond for 3rd straight year

The Lady Panthers jumped out to an 8-0 lead and quickly left no doubt that the team would advance to Hammond for the third straight year.

Brusly led from start the finish and by as much as 30 points during Thursday night's 52-28 quarterfinal win at home against Jennings.

Brusly advances to the LHSAA state tournament at Southeastern to take on No. 2 Albany in the Division II non-select semifinals Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. Albany beat No. 7 West Feliciana 67-22 Thursday.

Tia Anderson led the Lady Panthers (29-6) with 20 points. Amireyah Williams and Laila Clark were in double figures with 15 and 12 points respectively.

"It's becoming a trend now," Anderson said. "That's the expectation every year that we come and play to get to Hammond. "This year we have to finish it. We got there but now it's time to get the chip."

Brusly's defense terrorized Jennings from the opening tip. The Lady Dogs didn't score until there was 1:33 left in the first quarter and they were trailing 11-3 at that point.

The Lady Panthers opened the second quarter with a 15-0 run to extend the lead to 26-3 with two minutes left in the half. The halftime score was 26-5.

"I feel like our defensive effort is the top key," Williams explained. "The defense leads to offense."

Jennings scored the first six points out of halftime to trim the deficit to 26-11 with 6:11 left to play in the third quarter.

Brusly delivered the final knockout blow, closing the quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 38-13 lead into the fourth.

"I'm proud of the girls," said Brusly coach Shawn Bradford. "It's been a hard year. I can't say people believed in us or not, I don't know but I'm just thankful for this group of girls."

Bradford complimented his team's defensive effort and the work on the offensive glass, which led to second-chance opportunities.

The feat of reaching the semifinals for three straight years isn't lost on the coach, but he mentioned there's still more to do this season.

"I want the girls to make sure they enjoy this," Bradford said. "This is historic, for us to go three years back-to-back but of course, the job's not done. We're not in this to just be a quarterfinal, semifinal team. We want to be a state champion contender year in and year out. We're going to enjoy this tonight but tomorrow we're back in the lab."