Mears drops 35 in Briarwood’s win over Woodlawn

Published 8:16 pm Saturday, December 9, 2023

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Briarwood Christian Lions returned to their home court on Friday, Dec. 8, and they put on a great come-from-behind performance to beat the Woodlawn Colonels 61-52 at Briarwood Christian School.

On a night when the Lions were without their two starting post players in Luke Schultz and Garrett Witherington, Briarwood put an emphasis on guard play with a three-guard starting lineup.

That played right into point guard Drew Mears’ hand, who scored 35 points in a huge night for the sophomore rising star.

He accounted for all six of Briarwood’s first quarter points, which helped the team keep pace with Woodlawn’s 11-point effort in the opening period.

Mears then kicked into another gear with 12 points in the second quarter, overcoming a trio of three-pointers from Cornelius Hudson of the Colonels, who finished the game with 23 points.

Briarwood trailed at halftime, but with Woodlawn only in front 24-21, the Lions had a chance to strike and take the lead coming out of the locker room.

They did just that with an explosive third quarter on offense. Briarwood scored 23 points in the third, including 10 from Mears and Caleb Keller’s first six points of the night, to outscore Woodlawn by 10 during that time.

The Lions defense also held the Colonels to just three made shots from the field in the third quarter, which gave them a 44-37 lead going into the fourth quarter.

With the momentum now flipped on its head, Briarwood and Woodlawn played a tightly contested fourth quarter that saw much of the scoring come from the free throw line.

The Lions went 8-11 from the charity stripe, but even though the Colonels shot 9-12 on their late free throws, Briarwood still extended its lead by a pair of points to wrap up the nine-point win.

In addition to Mears’ 35 points, Thomas Loudon scored eight points and Keller had seven in the victory.

More Briarwood

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