Briarwood buried Homewood in Tuesday night matchup

Published 4:37 pm Thursday, November 17, 2022

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By LAUREN SEXTON | Sports Reporter

HOMEWOOD –  A powerful first quarter from the Briarwood Lions gave them the edge in a close game on Tuesday, Nov. 15 against the Homewood Patriots.

Briarwood put together two impressive quarters in the first half totaling 21 points and prevented Homewood from gaining more than 17 points in the half.

The Lions’ strong start is credited to the dominant force of their offense in the first quarter, and it gave Briarwood an early edge.

In the first quarter, four out of the five baskets knocked down were three-pointers from Drew Mears, Caleb Keller, Grant Mears, and Zac Lamey. Garrett Witherington topped off the quarter with an additional two points.

That was more than enough to help the Lions take a commanding lead early in the game, but the Patriots’ offense managed to maneuver through Briarwood into the second quarter. Homewood was able to pick up 14 more points before halftime was called.

Drew Mears shot one more basket outside the three-point line, and Josh Thompson gained two additional points for the Lions into the second. Matthia Lieb went two for two at the free throw line in the remaining minutes in the first half.

Coming out of the break, Homewood began to close the gap between the two teams. The Patriots ended the third quarter trailing Briarwood 26-24.

In the third quarter, the Lions got one more three-pointer from Drew Mears, and Luke Schultz had two successful free throws. Briarwood’s defense played strong throughout the quarter.

That helped Briarwood extend its advantage into the fourth quarter where the Lions fought for their first away game victory.

Briarwood played more offensively to close out the game in the final quarter. Another basket made outside the arc by Grant Mears and a combined six points from Witherington concluded the Tuesday night matchup for the Lions with the W.

Briarwood walked out with a 36-32 win.

In all, Briarwood knocked down seven three-pointers, three of which came from Grant Mears and two from Drew Mears, while Witherington finished with eight points in the arc.

Briarwood returns home on Thursday, Nov. 17 to take on Childersburg.