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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – The Briarwood Christian Lions got a chance to test their skills against some elite competition at the Discover Shelby Thompson Thanksgiving Invitational and walked away with a pair of wins in the process.

Briarwood defeated the New Hope Trojans 64-52 in the first round on Saturday, Nov. 23, and after losing to the Helena Huskies in the semifinals, the Lions got a 63-61 win off a buzzer beater against the Childersburg Tigers on Tuesday, Nov. 26 in the third-place game.

In the first game of the tournament against New Hope, Drew Mears powered the offense early and often en route to a 32-point performance.

Mears scored nine points in the opening quarter as the Lions took a commanding 17-5 lead over the Trojans at the end of the first quarter.

New Hope found its shooting form in the second quarter, scoring 16 more points before halftime, but Mears kicked into another gear as well.

He added 13 points to his first-half total to increase Briarwood’s lead to 36-22 going into the halftime break.

The Trojans continued to do damage on the offensive end and dropped 18 points in the third quarter. That was enough to outpace the Lions for the quarter as Mears and the team’s scoring pace slowed down, but it wasn’t enough to take the lead as Briarwood led 50-40 after the third.

The Lions cruised from there, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to seal the 12-point victory and advance to the winners’ bracket semifinals.

In addition to Mears’ 32-point day, Sam Canale and Eli Thompson each scored seven points and Zeke Witt and Brayden Robertson each had six points in the win.

The Lions then suffered a 62-40 defeat to the Helena Huskies in the semifinals on Monday, Nov. 25. Mears led the team with nine points, Tory Smith and Canale each scored seven points and Thompson had six points.

That left Briarwood looking for a bounce-back performance the next day against Childersburg.

Witherington and Witt powered the early offense for the Lions as they aimed to keep pace with the Tigers. Childersburg ended up taking a 16-14 lead into the second quarter, but it wouldn’t last for long.

That’s because Mears and Thompson hit their shooting strides. Mears scored 11 points after being held scoreless in the opening quarter while Thompson hit two more 3-pointers after knocking one down in the first.

Witherington also added four more points to his total to get on the cusp of double figures, give Briarwood as a team 25 points for the second quarter and take a 39-30 lead into halftime.

The momentum swung back in the Tigers’ favor as they kept the Lions relatively quiet in the third quarter, allowing just eight points.

Childersburg then cut the deficit to four on the offensive end of the floor to make it a two-possession game going into the fourth quarter with the score at 47-43.

The pressure only continued as Mears and the Tigers’ Devonte Fairman engaged in an offensive duel. Mears scored nine points in the fourth quarter and hit three baskets from the field to help Briarwood fight back.

However, the Lions faced immense pressure with the game tied at 61-61 in the final seconds.

Inbounding the ball with 1.9 seconds to go, Smith hit a driving Canale with a pass and he finished it off with a layup to take the 63-61 lead as time expired. That sealed third place for Briarwood and gave the team a win to finish out the tournament.

Mears scored 20 points in the win and Witherington joined him in double figures with 12 points. Thompson scored nine points and Witt, Smith and Charlie Caldwell all had seven points each.