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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – After downing both the Montevallo Bulldogs and Indian Springs earlier in the season, the Briarwood Christian Lions doubled down and swept the season series with both of their county foes.

Briarwood defeated Montevallo 68-56 on Friday, Dec. 13 at Briarwood Christian School before getting out of Indian Springs School on Saturday, Dec. 14 with a narrow 53-50 win over their local rival.

First, the Lions took on the Bulldogs in a rematch of an entertaining opening night clash which Briarwood won in Montevallo.

Both offenses erupted in the opening quarter with the Lions taking control early. Drew Mears knocked down three first-quarter 3-pointers while Eli Thompson scored seven points to help pace the offense as well.

Buck Ross and Dee Cutts dominated for the Bulldogs with Ross scoring 10 points from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Cutts earning five points while going 3-for-4 from the free throw line.

At the end of the quarter, Briarwood held a 25-17 lead and built off it during the second quarter.

The Lions continued to balance out the scoring across their roster with seven different scorers, including four points apiece from Mears and Brayden Robertson to continue their strong first halves.

The biggest difference was Briarwood’s defense, which limited Montevallo to just eight points in the second quarter, which allowed the hosts to get out to a double-digit lead and go up 44-25 at the halftime break.

The Bulldogs would not go down quietly as they outscored the Lions 21-15 in the third.

Cutts had a strong 5-for-6 stretch from the free throw line to score nine points in the third and add to his nine points from the first half. Nahjear Russell also scored four points to help Montevallo close the gap to 59-46 going into the fourth quarter.

Cutts and Robertson continued to lead the way for their respective offenses in a more defensive fourth quarter, but in the end, the Lions walked away with the 12-point victory.

Robertson led Briarwood with 17 points, including seven in the fourth quarter. Mears scored 15 points, Sam Canale dropped 12 points and Thompson finished with nine points. Eli Stubbs scored six points and Charlie Caldwell had four points.

As for Montevallo, Cutts finished with a game-high 23 points, Buck earned 13 points and Keiston Ross scored 10 points to make it three Bulldogs in double figures. Russell scored eight points and Brannon Hudson earned four points.

The Lions then faced an even stiffer test a day later against Indian Springs.

Springs caught fire from deep early, hitting four 3-pointers in the first quarter, including two from Dylan Heald. Mears knocked down a pair in response and teamed with Stubbs to score all of Briarwood’s 12 first-quarter points, but it wasn’t enough to lead at the end of the first.

With a 14-12 lead going into the second quarter, Indian Springs remained the slight favorite in the contest as Heald led a strong offensive effort from the hosts.

Neither Mears nor Stubbs hit a shot from the field in the second quarter as the Lions had to get a large chunk of their offense either from Thompson or the free throw line.

That left the Lions in a slight 26-23 hole going into the halftime break.

Briarwood’s offense hit a different gear in the third quarter as Mears scored seven points and Thompson added five to his total, leading the way for an 18-point effort from the entire offense.

Max Markstein hit a pair of shots to help Indian Springs continue to keep pace, but the Lions took a 41-39 lead at the end of the third quarter.

The teams continued to battle down the stretch as Heald scored seven of his team’s 11 fourth-quarter points but Briarwood finished the job by holding off Springs for the three-point win.

Mears led the Lions with 20 points, Thompson earned nine points and Stubbs had six points. Canale and Robertson each finished with five points and Tory Smith and Garrett Witherington scored four points apiece.

Heald dropped a game-high 21 points for Indian Springs. Markstein finished with eight points, Long Truong scored seven points, Ben Simms had six points and Gus French posted five points.

Briarwood will head to the Smoky Mountain Classic in Gatlinburg, Tennessee with an 8-5 record and face the Pineville Mountain Lions out of Kentucky on Friday, Dec. 19 at 8:30 p.m. at Rocky Top Sports World.

As for 8-7 Springs, they will look to improve on their 1-1 mark in area play with a matchup against Fairfield on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. on the road.