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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

COLUMBIANA – After a tightly fought first half between the area foes, the Briarwood Christian Lions grabbed hold of the lead off an Emma Kerley 3-pointer on the first play of the third quarter and never looked back.

Briarwood started out area play on the right note with a 59-36 win over the Shelby County Wildcats on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at Shelby County High School.

After the teams traded baskets in the opening minute, Briarwood scored five points in 24 seconds to take a 7-2 lead and force a Shelby County timeout.

The Lions would then take that five-point lead into the second quarter as the teams only scored one basket each in the final 5:49 of the first, with the Wildcats’ basket coming from a Sanyia Floyd fast break layup off a steal.

Shelby County cut the deficit to one off a quick 3-pointer and free throw in the opening minute, but AT Baker responded with a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 12-8. Shelby County scored a pair of baskets in response, including a Kenna’d Buie coast-to-coast layup to tie the game back up.

The lead then changed hands multiple times again as Clara Crawford hit a free throw to retake the lead before Daleigh Griffin hit a 3-pointer at the other end of the court to go up 15-13 with 4:25 left until halftime.

The back-and-forth continued once again as Floyd knocked down a 3-pointer to counter Briarwood’s free throws and take a 19-16 lead. Baker and Kerley closed the half with three free throws to tie back up the game at 19-19 going into the halftime break.

The third quarter started off at a flying pace as Kerley opened the half with a 3-pointer only for Morgan Arnold and Sasha Munikar to trade 3-pointers for their teams.

Briarwood quickly pulled away from there, using a Baker layup and Kerley pull-up jumper to trigger a Wildcats timeout with the lead at 29-22.

The Lions’ momentum only continued from there as they outscored Shelby County 23-6 in the third quarter. Briarwood closed the quarter with 11 unanswered points, eight of which came from Kerley as she hit a pair of 3-pointers while Grace Garrett converted an and-1 opportunity.

That put the Lions up 42-25 going into the fourth quarter, and the visitors never looked back from there.

Baker and Kerley extended the run to 16-0 before the Wildcats could offer a response. Both teams hit long range shots in the final minutes, but Briarwood’s balanced scoring attack helped it extend the lead.

Garrett and Baker each scored four points in the fourth as the Lions used seven different scorers to polish off the 23-point victory.

Kerley led Briarwood with 21 points, and Baker joined her in double figures with 15 points. Munikar scored nine points off a trio of 3-pointers, Garrett had seven points, all of which came in the second half, and Crawford finished with five points.

As for Shelby County, Buie scored a team-high 14 points while Arnold finished with 11 points, including three made 3-pointers. Griffin secured five points and Floyd earned four points in the loss.

The Lions improved to 12-9 on the year and 1-0 in area play with the win. Their next game is on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Sylacauga Aggies.

The Wildcats dropped to 10-3 and 0-1 in area play but will look to continue their strong start to the season on the road in Lineville as they face the Central Volunteers of Clay County on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 5:30 p.m.