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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Briarwood Christian Lions improved to 3-0 in area play with a 38-20 win over the Helena Huskies on Friday, Jan. 19 at Helena High School.

After a tightly-fought first half, the Lions used a shutout defensive effort in the third quarter to pull away for the win.

Ann Tatum Baker and Clara Crawford led the way for Briarwood as they combined for all seven of their team’s first quarter points.

That allowed them to just edge out Helena for the lead at the end of the opening quarter as the Huskies scored six points in the first.

With the Lions up 7-6 going into the second quarter, they had their best offensive quarter of the night and added 13 more points before halftime.

Baker and Mary Beth Dicen each scored four points apiece as four different Helena players helped the Huskies score nine points in the second quarter to give Briarwood a 20-15 lead at the break.

While the Lions held a two-possession lead at the start of the third quarter, they pulled away thanks to their lights-out defense.

Briarwood held Helena scoreless in the third quarter and capitalized on the other end with six points from Baker and 10 points total.

That put the Lions up by 15 going into the fourth quarter.

Briarwood kept the pressure up and only allowed five points from the Huskies in the fourth quarter, and the Lions walked away with the 18-point win.

Baker led her team with a game-high 19 points, scoring half of Briarwood’s 38 points in the win. Crawford had eight points and six rebounds and Dicen scored six points.

Amari Grant led Helena with eight points, including five in the fourth quarter.

The Lions will have three straight non-area games before their area finale against Pelham on Monday, Jan. 29. The first is a home game against Moody on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m.

As for the Huskies, they will begin a two-game set against Pelham at home on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m.