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Drew Mears broke Briarwood’s all-time scoring record as a junior on a night where the Lions honored seniors Eli Stubbs and Brayden Robertson and dominated Shelby County to keep pace in the area standings. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – Briarwood Christian Lions junior guard Drew Mears entered the night needing just eight points to break Jason Laatsch’s Briarwood program record of 1,404 career points. He needed just four minutes to surpass it.

After knocking down a pair of early 3-pointers as part of a massive early Lions run, Mears spread the love around the court, but when his teammate came up with a steal at midcourt around the halfway mark of the quarter, he burst back on a cut ready to receive the ball.

From there, Mears easily hit the transition layup for his eighth point of the game as the officials blew the whistle to a standing ovation from the big crowd on hand at Briarwood Christian School.

For Mears, it was a surreal moment, but one he was hesitant to take the spotlight for. To him, the record is a product of his teammates, and two of them, Eli Stubbs and Brayden Robertson, were celebrating their senior night.

“It was a pretty cool moment,” Mears said. “These guys on our team, they’ve really been awesome. They’ve been supportive, and I wouldn’t be able do any of that without them. Especially tonight, I was thinking about the seniors, what all they’ve sacrificed for this team, it’s just about them.”

In the end, Briarwood went on to honor those seniors with a 70-33 win over the Shelby County Wildcats on Thursday, Jan. 16, securing another crucial area victory on a historic night for the program.

The Lions burst out of the gate like a team on a mission. After Mears hit a 3-pointer on the opening possession, his teammates quickly added two more baskets to go up 7-0 just 1:12 into the game, triggering an early timeout from the Wildcats.

After Eli Stubbs knocked down a 3-pointer to take a 10-0 lead, Sutton Reed finally got Shelby County on the board with a deep shot shortly after. However, Briarwood continued to dominate and went on a 13-0 run.

During that run, Mears led the charge with a pair of baskets, including the record-breaking layup to make the lead 21-3, while Brayden Robertson dominated on both ends of the floor and Stubbs contributed as well.

Shelby County mostly bottled up the Lions’ scoring over the next few minutes. Andres McGinnis and Nate Byrne made four free throws in the final two minutes of the quarter, but Sam Canale hit a 3-pointer in between that as Briarwood led 26-9 after the first quarter.

The Wildcats defense continued to lock in and limited Briarwood to just six points during the first five minutes of the second quarter. During that time, Shelby County got big baskets from Reed and Tyson Duncan to cut the deficit to 11.

With the lead at 31-20 with 3:21 to go until halftime, the Lions stepped on the gas. A free throw and an Eli Thompson bucket started a big run, leading to a Mears three-point play followed by his third 3-pointer of the half and another Canale basket.

Tory Smith was then fouled with 1.6 seconds left while shooting near midcourt, and he converted all three of his free throws as Briarwood finished the 14-2 run to cap off the half and lead 45-22 at the break.

The scoring pace slowed to nearly a crawl to start the second half as just one Shelby County free throw got on the scoreboard in the opening two minutes of the half.

Charlie Caldwell tried to spur on his Lions teammates with two 3-pointers that were 1:19 apart, the first of which came off a Mears no-look pass to the corner.

Now up 51-23 with 4:20 to go in the quarter, the Briarwood defense continued to lead the way and held the Wildcats to just four points in the third.

The Lions took advantage and finished the quarter on a 7-0 run as Witherington scored two more baskets, including a put-back off a missed free throw, and Stubbs made another shot on his senior night as Briarwood took a 57-26 lead into the fourth quarter.

From there, the Lions used their dominant lead to keep Shelby County at bay and outscored the Wildcats 10-5 in the fourth quarter to see out the 37-point win.

Mears finished with 18 points to lead both teams. Caldwell scored 13 points for Briarwood, Smith had nine points, Canale earned six points and Thompson finished with five points.

As for the Lions’ two seniors, Stubbs scored eight points and Robertson ended the night with five points in the win.

Reed led Shelby County with 12 points, all of which came off 3-pointers. Byrne scored eight points and Ryan Sipes finished with six points.

Briarwood is now 16-7 overall and 3-1 in the area. The Lions will hit the road to face the Northridge Jags on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 3 p.m. ahead of a battle with Sylacauga on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. at Briarwood Christian School.

If the Aggies lose tomorrow’s game against Central-Clay County, a Briarwood win would put it above Sylacauga and atop the area.

Shelby County will hit the road with a 5-17 record and 0-4 mark in area play to face Brookwood on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. ahead of an area clash with Central-Clay County on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. at Central High School in Lineville.

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