By Robert Wilson
FLORA – A shooter’s mentality and an assist from a pregame meal at Little Tokyo helped Brookhaven Academy’s Anne Rylea Thurman tie a career high in 3-pointers and points Friday afternoon here at Tri-County Academy.
The 5-foot-8 junior guard started out as hot as a bottle rocket on New Year’s Eve, making three 3-pointers in the first two and half minutes, and finished with six 3-pointers and 29 points to lead MAIS Class 4A Brookhaven Academy to a 59-50 victory over MAIS Class 3A Tri-County Academy.
Brookhaven Academy improved to 14-4 with losses to East Rankin (twice), and one each to Madison-Ridgeland Academy and Hartfield Academy. MRA is ranked No. 7 and East Rankin No. 14 in Mississippi according to MaxPreps.
Tri-County dropped to 9-7.
Thurman’s Saturday afternoon performance tied her career high in points, set when she was in the eighth grade three years ago against Presbyterian Christian School. She also had made six 3-pointers against Park Place Christian Academy earlier this month and against defending MAIS Overall Tournament champion Parklane Academy last season in the Class 5A South State tournament.
Thurman’s hot start set the tone as Brookhaven Academy jumped out to an early lead. She made 9 of 23 shots from the field, 6 of 15 from 3-point range, and 5 of 6 from the free throw line to go along with 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot. Thurman had nine points in the first quarter, four in the second, 11 in the third, and five in the fourth.
All that while battling tendinitis in her right (shooting) elbow, a situation she has played with all season. Thurman wears KT tape around her right elbow and arm every game to help with the tendinitis.
After Friday’s performance, Thurman – who has offer from Mississippi College – is averaging 16 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.7 assists while playing an average of 20 minutes per game (or about two and a half quarters) this season. She made her 300th career 3-pointer during Friday’s game. Thurman has 52 3-pointers this season.
“AR is having an unbelievable year and her ability to shoot it is what really got us off to such a good start,” Brookhaven Academy coach Drake Flowers said. “Her teammates abilities to find her in transition and help her get some clean looks early got us going and then she was able to create some off of some screens as the game progressed. AR has been working really hard at becoming a more versatile player when it comes other playing off the dribble some but at the end of the day she can flat out shoot it and has done a great job doing that so far this year. Her versatility and IQ help us be able to play her in different positions offensively and even defensively, which can help us get a little creative on offense when necessary. The best thing I saw her do tonight was pull the team together when we went through a stretch of turnovers and really got us settled back in. I’m really proud of her and looking forward to leading us the rest of the season.”
Thurman’s parents both have a basketball background. Her father, Chris, was a star at Brookhaven Academy, scoring an Overall Tournament championship game record 54 points in a triple-overtime win over MRA in 1989 and went on to to play at Mississippi College for Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame coach Mike Jones. Thurman’s mother, Kim, played basketball and softball at New Hope High, East Mississippi Community College and Mississippi College. Her parents met at MC.
Thurman’s preparation Friday got started at Little Tokyo in Brookhaven before making the 70 minute drive to Flora.
“I had sushi and dumplings,” said Thurman about her meal at Little Tokyo, a place where Thurman and her teammates go there fairly often. “Seeing the ball go in early definitely increased my confidence, but I already play with a shooter’s mentality. I was just trying to do what I need to help our team win. My teammates had some key moments. Susana Tate handled the ball and hit some key free throws along with Caroline Case. Bailey Douglas had a big three-point play at the end of the game to keep us ahead. Ruth Ellen Gates had a huge offensive rebound to secure the win.”
Douglas had 11 points and Case had nine points to help Brookhaven Academy. Gates had a team-high five rebounds.
“I was super proud of my team tonight,” Flowers said. “Exam week can be hard with there being a long gap between games. We were able to get in some solid days of practices which helped us prepare us for the athleticism and physicality we saw tonight. We were able to Mex defenses a good bit, which created some easy transition opportunities. Any time we are able to force 28 turnovers, we tie ourselves a good chance to win. We need to do a better job of winning the three-point line as a team. I thought we gave them a few too many good looks from there and that was what ultimately kept them in the game. But overall, we were able to manage and control possessions late and make some big free throws to get out of there with a win. Some scores you’ve seen could fool you about Tri-County They do a really good job with their style of play and hav a lot of physical athletes that can make plays. Games like this are good for us and help us learn to execute under pressure.”
Tri-County junior Lily Peyton Shepherd – daughter of Tri-County assistant coach Pam Shepherd – had a team-high 16 points, five 3-pointers. Senior Lynleigh Dunn had eight points.
Even though Brookhaven Academy got off to a quick start and led 15-9 after one quarter, 33-22 at halftime and 45-37 after three quarters, Tri-County kept battling and pulled with three points at 51-48 with 2 minutes, 16 seconds to play. But Brookhaven Academy scored eight of the last 10 points of the game to pull away.
“I thought we got off to a slow start and had way too many turnovers in the first quarter,” Tri-County coach Rod Delaney said. “Coach Flowers teams are always well coached. I thought we showed a lot of pride to cut it from 16 to three. Lily Peyton payed a great second half with four 3s. I love this team and we wil continue to get better.”
