By GRAHAM CARR / Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY – The Briarwood Christian Lions jumped to a big halftime lead to cruise to a 60-39 victory over Holy Family Catholic Tornadoes at Briarwood in the North Shelby Tip-off tournament on Nov 21.

Lions’ coach Chris Laatsch said he was thrilled with his team’s effort after tough losses to Chelsea and Calera the last couple of nights.

“They came back with a lot of passion and ready to fight today and get one,” Laatsch said.

Laatsch said he was also glad his team responded well from not having much rest between games.

“That was our fifth game in seven days,” Laatsch said. “We just got two guys that played much varsity last year, so we got a lot of young guys and to play that many games in that little time was really good.”

The Lions were led by Josh Laatsch with 21 points and Tim Robinson with 14 points.

Holy Family matched the Lions early on in the first quarter and the Tornadoes were able to grab a few leads at 2-1 and 8-5.  The Lions closed the quarter strong though with an 8-2 run to lead 13-10, going into the second quarter.

Early in the second quarter, the teams alternated runs without either team getting more than a six point lead.  Unfortunately for Holy Family, after the Tornadoes tied the score  at 19, Briarwood went on a 12-2 run over the remaining 2:03 left in the half.   The Lions did not surrender the lead for the rest of the game.

Holy Family tried to make a run in the third quarter, but Briarwood had an answer for every Tornadoes’ bucket. The closest the Tornadoes were able to get was at the end of the third quarter at  44-35.

The Lions’ defense gave up only four points the entire fourth quarter while Laatsch and Robinson combined for 14 of the Lions 16 points.

The game ended in an unusual way as Holy Family decided to hold onto the ball the final 2:15 seconds of the game without attempting a shot.

The Lions will get a chance to rest before the Lions go on the road to play Pelham in their next game on Nov. 27.