Briarwood keeps Oak Mountain at bay to beat Class 7A rival

Published 7:47 pm Tuesday, November 19, 2024

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Briarwood Christian Lions continued their strong start to the season with a win against one of their biggest rivals from Class 7A.

The Lions defeated the Oak Mountain Eagles 36-26 on Thursday, Nov. 14 at Briarwood Christian School.

Emma Kerley took control of the game early on offense for Briarwood, scoring the majority of her team’s 14 points in the first quarter.

On the opposite end, the Lions defense held Oak Mountain to a field goal each from Caroline Kester and Elizabeth Butler to take a 14-5 lead into the second quarter.

The Eagles made up some ground in the second quarter, forcing multiple missed shots from Briarwood and keeping Kerley scoreless for the entire eight minutes.

Nylah Cook and Meredith Renfrow powered Oak Mountain’s offense to 12 points to capitalize on the improved defensive performance. That cut the deficit to 20-17 at the halftime break.

With the game hanging in the balance and one possession separating the two teams, that led to a tight and low-scoring third quarter, but one that the Lions had the advantage in.

Briarwood used baskets from Ann Tatum Baker, Grace Garrett and Sasha Munikar to put pressure on the Eagles on the other end of the floor, and the Lions defense did its part too, holding Oak Mountain to just four points from Kester.

As a result, Briarwood extended its lead to 28-21 going into the fourth quarter.

From there, the Eagles kept the lead out of reach, winning the final quarter 8-5 behind baskets from Baker, Kerley and Claire Anderson.

That sealed the 10-point victory for the Lions to bounce back from a 3-point loss to Huntsville earlier in the week.

Kerley led Briarwood with 12 points and Baker got into double figures with 11 points. Garrett also scored four points in the win.

Kester was Oak Mountain’s top scorer with 12 points, including nine second-half points. Meredith Renfrow scored six points and Nylah Cook had four points.

The Lions will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. at Briarwood Christian School for a game against the Springville Tigers.

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