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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

GATLINBURG, Tenn. – The Briarwood Christian Lions may not have won a championship during their stay in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, but they made a big statement with their run to the championship game in the Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic Red Bracket from Dec. 19-21.

Briarwood defeated Kentucky’s Pineville Mountain Lions 72-69 on Thursday, Dec. 19 and beat the formerly undefeated No. 4 team in South Carolina, the Landrum Cardinals, 78-45 on Friday, Dec. 20 before losing 70-50 to the Warren Central Dragons from Kentucky in the title game.

In the opening game of the tournament against Pineville, both sets of Lions got out to a fast start on offense, combining for 34 points in the opening quarter. With five different Briarwood players powering the offense in the first quarter, Drew Mears, Eli Stubbs and Brayden Robertson each hit multiple baskets to help the Lions go up 18-16 at the end of the period.

That balanced offensive attack continued to make a difference in the second quarter.

Mears’ strong shooting continued with four more points to give him nine at the break, but this time, his biggest help came from Charlie Caldwell and Garrett Witherington who each scored four points in the second after going scoreless in the first.

Briarwood extended its halftime lead to 37-31, but Pineville cut into that deficit and threatened to take hold of the game in the third.

The Mountain Lions won the third quarter 18-12 with all but four of their points coming from just two players. 3-pointers from Trey Smith and Parker Jackson kept the Lions in the game, but the teams were tied at 49-49 entering the fourth quarter.

That’s when Mears went off, hitting four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter alone to wrestle the lead back from Pineville. He also knocked down four crucial free throws to keep the Mountain Lions at bay. Robertson also scored five points in the fourth to help seal the three-point victory.

Mears finished with 25 points and was joined in double figures by Robertson with 11 and Witherington with 10. Eli Stubbs scored six points and Caldwell, Smith and Jackson each had five points in the win.

Briarwood then faced another challenge in one of the best teams in South Carolina, but the Lions took care of Landrum with ease.

Once again, the offense started strong with Mears and Robertson leading six different scorers in the first quarter who combined for 21 points.

The difference this time was in the defense, which surrendered just 10 points in the first quarter to give Briarwood a 21-10 lead at the end of the quarter.

From there, the Lions didn’t look back, outscoring the Cardinals 25-7 in the second behind nine more points from Mears and six from Stubbs, the latter thanks to a strong free throw shooting performance.

With the halftime deficit at 46-17, Landrum fought back in the third quarter, scoring 18 points in the opening eight minutes of the half after managing less than that in the entire first half.

However, Briarwood’s offense continued to outpace the Cardinals. Mears continued to dominate, dropping 10 in the third, as the Lions tacked on 23 more points to their total to lead 69-35 going into the fourth quarter.

That proved to be an insurmountable lead even with Briarwood taking its foot off the gas in the fourth and was enough to knock off an undefeated side by 33 points.

Mears dropped 27 points in the win while Stubbs scored nine points. Caldwell and Sam Canale each finished with seven points, Witherington and Jackson had six points apiece and Smith scored five points.

Faced with a massive championship game test in Warren Central, the Lions were unable to keep up with the Dragons and dropped their first game of the tournament.

After keeping it tight during the opening quarter and trailing just 10-9 at the end of the period, Warren Central turned on the jets in the second, outscoring Briarwood 26-11 to build a deficit that the Lions could not overcome.

That offensive success continued in the third before Briarwood regained some momentum thanks to a 14-point fourth quarter from Mears, but it was too little, too late as the Lions lost by 20 to the No. 4 team in Kentucky to end the tournament.

Mears scored 21 points in the title game. Smith had nine points, Robertson finished with eight points, Stubbs posted five points and Witherington earned four points.

After a fun weekend getting a pair of wins in Gatlinburg, 10-6 Briarwood will now enjoy the holidays before taking the court in the Leeds Invitational on Dec. 27-28 at Leeds High School.