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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

After finding success at Class 6A last season, the Briarwood Christian Lions have a lot of reasons to look up heading into their return to Class 5A in the 2024-25 girls basketball season.

“This is a team with a lot of promise,” Briarwood coach Lorie Kerley said. “I feel like we have a great opportunity to have a successful year.”

Much of that promise comes from the return of an experienced core. While the Lions don’t have any seniors this season, they still have a pair of four-year varsity players in Ann Tatum Baker and Emma Kerley.

Both had stellar seasons in 2023-24 as Briarwood finished the regular season undefeated in area play to advance to sub-regionals.

Baker earned an All-County First Team spot with an average of 13.4 points per game and 41 percent shooting from long range and Emma placed on the All-County Second Team with 11.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

The Lions will rely on both as key contributors on the floor and strong leaders off of it.

“They both finished the year last year as our leading scorers, and I will lean on them to do a lot of our scoring again this year,” Kerley said of Baker and Emma. “They’re just solid kids on and off the court. They’ll be our captains this year. They’re good leaders, so we’ll look to them for the majority of our leadership.”

The one big hole in the starting lineup came from the graduation of Mary Beth Dicen, who was a reliable scoring threat with 11.2 points per game and a 38 percent 3-point percentage while earning an All-County Third Team selection.

In her place at point guard is Grace Garrett, a freshman who has immediately cemented herself as the facilitator of the offense.

“She’s just kind of jumped right in with the girls and has established her role as our point guard,” Kerley said of Garrett. “She’s done a great job. She’s really smart. She’s caught on to our offense very well, and she just quickly became a part of the team. She has the ability to push the ball, but she can also stay under control and get us into good half-court offenses.”

Not only does Briarwood boast a plethora of returning players, but those players have been on the court together for many years at this point.

That brings a natural chemistry that Kerley is leaning on to propel this team to success.

“I believe our biggest strength this year is going to be experience and also our chemistry,” Kerley said. “These girls have played together, some of them since elementary school, so they know each other well. I’m hoping that we will see these first few games of the season that our chemistry will be one of our strengths.”

That be crucial as the Lions drop down to Class 5A, where they will face a unique area that will require them to travel a little further than they’re used to into Columbiana, Sylacauga and Lineville to face Shelby County, Sylacauga and Central-Clay County.

To prepare them for those difficult road environments, Briarwood will face high-level foes such as Oak Mountain, Huntsville, Homewood and Hartselle while also taking part in Pelham’s Turkey Tipoff tournament over Thanksgiving week.

“We’ve got a really tough schedule in November and December and we’re hoping that that will prepare us for area play and playoffs,” Kerley said. “I think our biggest challenge in the area is going to be competing on the road. It’s really tough to win in the environments at Sylacauga and Clay Central and Shelby County so I think if we can keep our heads on the road and stay composed throughout those games. I think we’ve got a shot at making a run in area play.”

Kerley hopes that the group as a whole can stay focused and composed during the trials and tribulations of the upcoming season.

“We’ve worked on handling pressure,” Kerley said. “I feel like that’s something that we’ve put some emphasis on so far in our preseason, and taking pride in every possession, staying focused in every possession and really taking advantage of our scoring opportunities, so we’ve got a couple of things that we’ve put some emphasis on so far this year.”

One of the ways they hope to accomplish that and overcome challenges is through their relentless work ethic. Kerley said the team strives to grow closer together while giving their all on the court and displaying Christian character through everything.

Those traits are ones that excite her for the season to come.

“Some of the things that we take a lot of pride in and that we value is that we honor the Lord, we love each other well and we compete relentlessly, and so far in our practices, these girls have been doing that,” Kerley said. “They work hard every day. Every time they step on the court, they compete, so I’m looking forward to getting into gameplay.”

Briarwood opens the 2024-25 campaign on the road at the Montevallo Bulldogs on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m.