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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

LEEDS – The Briarwood Christian Lions split their games at the Leeds Invitational but closed out 2024 with a victory.

Briarwood defeated the Leeds Greenwave 48-23 on Saturday, Dec. 28 after falling to the Shades Valley Mounties 40-34 on Friday, Dec. 27 at Leeds High School.

In the first game of the showcase against Shades Valley, the Lions fell in an early hole as their 3-point shooting could not overcome the Mounties’ first-quarter offense. Shades Valley took a 14-6 lead into the second quarter before Briarwood made the deficit 23-17 at halftime.

Shades Valley continued to keep the Lions at bay during the second half, limiting shots from the field to secure the six-point victory.

Emma Kerley led Briarwood with 19 points while Julia Thompson scored four points. Seven different Lions recorded at least one point.

Briarwood bounced back with a strong start against Leeds the next day. Sasha Munikar scored eight points in the first quarter while Kerley got going for six during that stretch, helping the Lions establish a 16-5 lead by the end of the quarter.

The Greenwave defense stepped up in the second quarter and only surrendered seven more points before halftime. Briarwood had an even stronger defense though and gave up just four points in the second quarter to take a 23-9 lead into halftime.

The Lions came out of the gate in the third quarter shooting the ball better, with Kerley scoring seven points to get into double figures and lead five different scorers in the quarter.

Briarwood used that offensive momentum to pull away to a 38-16 lead at the end of the third quarter.

From there, the Lions continued to cruise with a balanced attack, outpacing Leeds en route to a 25-point victory to finish out the 2024 calendar year.

Kerley led Briarwood in scoring with 18 points. Ann Tatum Baker scored eight points, Munikar posted seven points and Grace Garrett finished with six points. In addition, Thompson had five points and Claire Anderson rounded out the scoring with four points.

The Lions enter 2025 with a 10-10 record and will play the Woodlawn Colonels on Friday, Jan. 3 at 3:30 p.m. at Briarwood Christian School in their final game before the start of area play on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. at Shelby County High School.