Briarwood boys beat Pelham in area matchup thriller

Published 1:02 pm Tuesday, January 10, 2023

By Lauren Sexton

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By LAUREN SEXTON | Sports Reporter

PELHAM — The Briarwood Lions picked up its first area win of the New Year in a tightly-contested 66-57 victory to county foe the Pelham Panthers on Friday, Jan. 6.

Pelham started the opening quarter strong with Kamari Hollis knocking down a basket outside the arc in the first couple of minutes of the game. Shortly after, Thompson Gennari followed Hollis with a basket picked up within the paint.

Gennari and Hollis gained one point from the free-throw line each. Joe Wimberly tacked on a two-pointer.

Briarwood’s Josh Thompson broke Pelham’s 5-0 lead after posting two points in the last three minutes of the quarter. The Lions continued to gain possession of the ball and tied the score 8-8 before going into the second quarter.

Garrett Witherington followed Thompson with back-to-back baskets in the paint.  

Briarwood put together an impressive run in the second portion of the first half after totaling 25 points and prevented Pelham from gaining more than 12 points before the first half was called.

The Lions’ strong start is credited to the dominant force of their offense with five players shooting in the second quarter. Drew Mears led the Lions in the second quarter with one basket knocked inside the arc and one outside the arc.

William Lloyd, Luke Schultz and Garrett Witherington posted four points each. Matthias Leib

and Thompson totaled a combined four points, while Zach Lamey knocked down a three-point field goal.

Gennari went two for two from the free throw line, while Hollis tacked on one free throw and one basket. Dynarian Long and Wimberly posted a basket outside the arc for the Panthers in the second quarter. Wimberly added on a free throw.

Pelham trailed Briarwood 33-20.

Coming out of the break, Briarwood maintained the gap between the two teams. The Panthers ended the third quarter trailing the Lions 50-36 after posting 17 points. Pelham knocked 16 points from five different players.

Mears tacked on six points for Briarwood with Schultz following with two field goals. Lieb went two for two from the free throw line and Llyod posted three points outside the arc. Lamey tacked on two points inside the paint.

Perkins and Gennari both knocked down a basket inside and outside of the arc for Pelham before the final quarter. Wimberly followed with four points. Hollis and Long totaled a combined two points.

After trailing Briarwood by 10 or more points in the second and third quarters, Pelham was determined to close the gap between the two teams in the final quarter.

With three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Lions led 54-50 over the Panthers. Pelham had to pick up 12 points from its 15 free throw attempts. Hollis made 11 out of his 14 attempts from the line. 

Perkins knocked down a basket from the free throw line with two baskets totaling a combined five points, while Wimberly finished the night with two field goals. Posting an overall 21 points in the final quarter.

The Lions knocked down nine free throws in the fourth quarter and picked up three field goals totaling seven points to secure their latest victory.

Lieb and Mears posted four out of his six attempts. Llyod knocked down a basket from the free throw line, one outside the arc and one inside the paint. Witherington added two more points to the Lions’ final score.

Briarwood walked out with a 66-57 win over Pelham.

Hollis led the Panthers with 17 points posted. Wimberly followed Hollis with 14 points. 

The Lions had eight players score in the area matchup with Llyod leading Briarwood with 16 points. Mears tacked on 15 points, while Witherington totaled 12. 

Briarwood returns home on Tuesday, Jan 10 to take on the Helena Huskies in another area matchup. Pelham has home-court advantage in their next game against Leeds on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

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