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Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience NORTH SHELBY – Just when it looked like a storm was brewing in the Briarwood Christian Lions’ attacking third after they scored the opening goal a literal storm brewing over the horizon changed everything A 25-hour rain delay stunted Briarwood’s momentum it built just before the halftime break the Lions were determined to not let the Northridge Jaguars back in the game a dominant defensive showing and a pair of goals from Taylor Leib made the difference as Briarwood beat Northridge 2-0 on Saturday May 3 at Lions Pride Stadium to reach its third-straight Final Four “This was a goal for us at the beginning of season it wasn’t looking like it was going to happen and the girls have really come together and we’ve been playing our best soccer lately,” Briarwood coach Ryan Leib said the Lions got their opportunity to break through when Northridge’s keeper charged and dove for a challenge inside the box in the 35th minute She drew contact to force the official to call for a penalty Taylor Leib stepped up to the spot to take the kick the Clemson commit buried the ball in the left side of the net That gave the Lions a 1-0 lead and a full head of momentum Briarwood used that goal to open up the attack over the next few minutes Leib fired another shot from outside the box in the 37th minute that Northridge’s keeper caught Ellie Rushing quickly followed that up with a lengthy run up the left wing but she couldn’t find anyone to cross it to that momentum came to a crashing halt in the 39th minute when the official blew the whistle for a nearby lightning strike After the resumption of play the next night at 6:45 p.m. Northridge controlled the ball for most of the final two minutes of the half The Lions sent a rocket to the frame with 27 seconds left but it blasted off the left post to leave the score at 1-0 before the shortened halftime Leib nearly got a big breakaway chance on the counterattack in the 48th minute but she was fouled shortly after receiving the cross resulting in a Northridge yellow card for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity Briarwood tried to get another counterattack chance going two minutes later but like many of the chances by either team in the ensuing 15 minutes they were countered by strong on-ball defense Briarwood then missed a shot just to the right side of the goal in the 68th minute and the Lions built up for the second goal from there That culminated in a 77th-minute chance created by a deep counterattack ball to a sprinting Leib on the left side She took the ball from about 40 yards out and took care of everything herself and the hosts dominated possession the rest of the way to see out the win and a third-straight Final Four berth Leib said the delay presented a unique challenge for his players to keep their focus but he was proud of them for seeing out the result 18 year old girls is a mental battle anyway but when you have the schedule gets broken up and rain delays and all kinds of different things you got to control what you can control and this is what you got to do,’ and the girls have responded well by doing it,” Leib said The win is just part of a turnaround in the second half of the season that saw the Lions start putting the pieces together from their early struggles those days are in the past as Briarwood carries a six-match win streak into its Final Four matchup with the Spanish Fort Toros on Thursday Leib hopes his team will keep that momentum and focus into their two final tests to pass to win a state title “You’ve got to play the next game in front of you and we got to prepare,” Leib said “We’ll enjoy this one tonight and then prepare for Spanish Fort and then see what happens there and then we got to prepare for the next one hopefully.” Just one AAC game is on Monday’s college basketball schedule That contest is the Wichita State Shockers squaring… The Memphis Grizzlies (38-22) face the Atlanta Hawks (27-33) as 8.5-point favorites on Monday take on the Brooklyn Nets (21-39).… The Wichita State Shockers versus the North Texas Mean Green is a game to catch on the Monday… The Monday college basketball slate has plenty of exciting matchups in store Our computer model has suggested picks… What would make you consider a digital subscription to Shelby County Reporter View Results Villages-News.com This early morning golfer on the Briarwood Executive Golf Course in The Villages was teeing off into the sunrise Share your local photos with us at https://villages-news.com/contact-us How to watch Alabama high school girls soccer: Briarwood Chr Northridge High School plays at Briarwood Christian School How to watch Northridge vs. Briarwood Chr. girls soccerNorthridge and Briarwood Chr. will match up on Friday, May 2, at 6 p.m. CT. Don't miss out on any of the action with NFHS Network The NFHS Network gives you access to live high school sports around the country Follow your favorite team and never miss a game Want to track your alma mater, local team or family member's school throughout the playoffs? NFHS Network has high school girls soccer streaming live plus on-demand replays and highlights of all the action from thousands of schools across America Watch Briarwood Chr. vs. Northridge on NFHS Network! All NFHS Network events are available to watch online at and through the NFHS Network Mobile Apps for iOS and Android and TV Apps for ROKU                       Class 4A/5A Tourney Concludes 2025 State Tennis Championships 2013-2014 2012-2013 2011-2012 2010-2011 2009-2010 2008-2009 1 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s third baseman Edward McLeod makes a play against Briarwood Christian in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 2 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Briarwood Christian’s Parker Daniels gestures to teammates against St Paul’s in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 3 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Briarwood Christian infielder John Parker Sfakianos signals two out against St Paul’’s in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 4 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s Hudson Farnell (11) celebrates scoring against Briarwood Christian with Tate Johnston in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday, 5 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s John Stowers scores against Briarwood Christian in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 6 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Briarwood Christian Colin Lusk pitches against St Paul’s in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 7 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s Bay Lane bats against Briarwood Christian in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 8 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Briarwood Christian infielder John Parker Sfakianos makes a catch against St 9 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s Bo Ladner goes into second base as Briarwood Christian’s John Parker Sfakianos covers the bag in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 10 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Briarwood Christian head coach Chris Heaps in action against St 11 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s John Stowers doubles against Briarwood Christian in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 12 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Briarwood Christian’s Ivan Hand pitches against St 13 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s John Stowers pitches against Briarwood Christian in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 14 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s Taylor O’Dell pitches against Briarwood Christian in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 15 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s Hudson Farnell beats the pickoff throw to first baseman Robert Paulsen in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 16 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s Tate Farrell pitches against Briarwood Christian in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 17 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St 18 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Paul’s players congratulate Hudson Farnell after he scores against Briarwood Christian in Game 1 of Class 5A best-of-3 second-round playoff series Friday 19 / 19Mike KittrellBriarwood Christian at St Briarwood Christian’s Charles Dedmon (22) reacts to scoring against St © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices The Chelsea Hornets strung together a comeback for the ages to defeat the Briarwood Christian Lions in the Class 6A state playoffs advancing to host a quarterfinal for the first time since 2011 NORTH SHELBY – As the lights shined on the field at Briarwood Christian School Chelsea junior Jacob Cano stood living a dream that only few can make a reality he stood with a soccer ball on the ground and a goal 17 yards in front of him his Chelsea Hornets are still playing for a shot at the state title the only thing that can decide that is whether Briarwood junior goalkeeper Gavin Patterson can save it or not put foot to leather and struck it towards the left side of the net past Patterson The Hornets faithful erupted and the players stormed the field while the Lions of Briarwood sat motionless and in agony knowing one of their best seasons in the program’s history had come to an end the Chelsea Hornets completed an improbable comeback on the road on Tuesday rallying from two goals down to win 3-2 over the Briarwood Christian Lions on a 4-1 advantage in penalty kicks to keep their season alive and advance to the quarterfinals of the Class 6A state playoffs “That’s got to be one of the greatest high school games I’ve ever witnessed,” said Chelsea head boys soccer coach Lee Miller ‘Championship teams find a way…’ We got back in it 2-2 the pace turned up to 10 and set the tone for the entire night The Hornets nearly opened things up on a drive by Wever down the edge of the pitch That chance was the closest either team got for a while in the contest While Briarwood controlled the possession arrow in the opening 20 minutes of the night Chelsea took over in the closing 20 minutes of the first half The closest the Hornets got was a chance that emerged in the 30th minute when Parker Dean ran up the middle of the pitch with an open shot in front of him but little did either team know what was awaiting them The second half began with a similar pace to the first with neither team being able to break through The Lions saw two chances in the 48th minute on a corner and a shot up the middle in the 52nd minute but neither attempt got to the back of the net Briarwood had gained the momentum back in those instances a cross from Thomas Lanier on the left side of the box found the foot of Lucio Costa to break the knot The adrenaline was not finished though for the Lions as they earned a corner opportunity in the 68th minute he booted it towards the left side of the net where Cam Harrington got his head on it and put into the goal for a much-needed insurance score and quickly making it a 2-0 game With Chelsea in a deep hole and only 12 minutes to make something happen the players dug deep inside themselves to try and keep their season alive Doing so was just what the Hornets needed to tip the momentum in their favor a penalty on Briarwood in the box sent Luke Miller up to take a penalty kick Miller calmly stepped up and rocketed a shot towards the right side of the net to cut the deficit in half at 2-1 Chelsea’s late-game magic was not done though and with an aggressive attack in the 77th minute Marcus Garcia drew a foul on the left side of the box sending Miller back to the 12-yard mark for another penalty kick Miller ran up and drilled the ball towards the right side again just getting it past Patterson to tie it and send the Hornets into a frenzy That conversion sent the game into extra time where neither team could score after two periods of five minutes who converted towards the left side of the net to make it 1-0 Brock Shields then stepped up for the Lions but his shot to the left was saved by Madden Brown Cooper Baumbaugh ran up and made it 2-0 on a shot to the left side before Thomas Lanier tried to get Briarwood on the board and with his shot to the lower left corner kept the season alive to get things to 3-1 with a win riding on him converting his attempt He ran up and fired it towards the lower left corner as well the Hornets will host a quarterfinal in a match with the Calera Eagles on Saturday at Chelsea High School with a shot at claiming a spot in Huntsville Luke (Miller) was a little-bitty kid and now to get a chance to do it again AHSAA 80th State Tennis Championships conclude Friday      The boys’ tennis link is: https://tennisreporting.com/event/brackets/604?division=977&host=2913&matchType=Doubles&isConsolation=false&flight=1 The Briarwood Christian Lions won the Class 6A Indian Springs and Westminster OM with sub-state qualifiers The golf sectional championships on Monday April 28 brought out the best in local competitors as they looked to secure spots at next week’s sub-state championships golfers from the Briarwood Christian Lions Indian Springs School and the Westminster School at Oak Mountain Knights reached sub-state the top four teams and top four individual golfers not on a qualifying team advanced to sub-state Class 7A only took the top two teams and two individual qualifiers Section 2 girls championship at Timberline Golf Club in Calera Presley Justice led the way with a 74 while Cariann Beatty had a 77 Camille Beatty shot an 81 and Ellie McElroy earned a 94 Spain Park’s Claire Johnson was the top non-automatic qualifier with a score of 87 advancing to sub-state alongside Chelsea’s Emma Bazzell who tied for the second-best score with an 89 Section 2 championship at Timberline with a score of 289 Chase Kyes dropped an 8-under-par 63 to secure low medalist honors He finished the round bogey-free while shooting birdies on holes two Rocco Saia secured a 72 for the Jags while both Luke Philley and Adam Russell broke 80 with a 75 and 79 Landon Crane was the fifth golfer with a score of 82 Chelsea finished third with a total score of 300 with Cohen Kearbey leading the team with a score of 72 The Hornets had four golfers shoot sub-80 rounds with Stratton Hodges shooting a 74 Andrew Harris earning a 75 and Austin Jones had a 79 two local golfers qualified as individuals as Pelham’s Kaden Parramore was the second-best non-automatic qualifier with a score of 74 and Briarwood’s Sam Burns was fourth with a 75 Oak Mountain came in second place in the girls Class 7A Section 3 championship at Limestone Springs in Oneonta Kate Nickels led the team with a score of 80 while Reese Powell shot an 81 and Caroline Gardner had an 83 Oak Mountain also had a pair of individual qualifiers on the boys side between Luke Butts Section 2 boys championship at Ol’ Colony Golf Course in Tuscaloosa Carter Devine led the way with an 84 while Max Markstein had a 99 Will Dunn shot a 103 and Luke French earned a 108 Gus French rounded out the team with a 118 Asher Franklin led the way with a score of 82 on Cider Ridge Golf Course in Oxford Holden Smith came in with a 92 and Walter Moore had a 103 The sub-state championships will be held on Monday Oak Mountain will play at RTJ Hampton Cove in Huntsville Indian Springs will play The Pines of Chatom and Westminster OM will be at RTJ Cambrian Ridge in Greenville HOOVER – With the season resting on her shoulders Mallon Sigler calmly rocketed a ball in the back of the net to deliver the Briarwood Christian Lions a 1-0 (5-3) victory over the Spain Park Jaguars on the road in penalty kicks Head coach Ryan Leib’s team is now one step closer to making the championship game and repeating the feat they accomplished a season ago The loss marks another heartbreaking playoff exit for Robert Starr’s Spain Park squad which lost in the first round as the undefeated top team in 7A on penalty kicks a year ago in the playoffs and had previously beaten Briarwood twice this season The game saw neither team score in regulation or extra time The first half saw both teams feel each other out with the Lions defense hounding Reese Oldfield and Addy Soehn Taylor Leib had an opportunity to score with 22:52 left in the first half but Morgan Pritchett was there for the save for Spain Park Seemingly every chance for both teams stalled due to great defense with both teams unwilling to give an edge to their opposition Oldfield had a beautiful chance for the Jaguars with around seven minutes left in the first half weaving through defenders and getting a shot off on goal The Mississippi State commit could not capitalize and the game moved to the second half knotted in a scoreless draw with Briarwood’s defense swarming Oldfield and Spain Park’s attack at every chance The Lions also stalled offensively frequently Pritchett made an outstanding save from close range to keep the game scoreless and the Jaguars’ hopes alive The first and second periods of extra time saw very little offensive opportunities for either side with exhaustion also starting to creep in from the sweltering spring heat Saylor Eighmy squared off with Pritchett to start the fireworks but Pritchett committed a violation during the save Soehn then matched up with Lions keeper Catherine Walker giving Briarwood an early advantage in the shootout Taylor Mathews then converted the Lions next attempt and Morgan Anthony subsequently made it 3-2 with a goal Taylor Leib then scored on Pritchett to make it 4-2 Josie Gray blasted a shot over the head of Walker sending the Lions’ faithful into a frenzy and stunning the Spain Park home crowd Briarwood advances in the next round of the Class 6A Playoffs against the Northridge Jaguars on Friday Briarwood outlasted McAdory to reach the second round off a 73rd-minute Carson Tucker goal as the Lions defense helped pave the way for an opportunistic rebound strike NORTH SHELBY – The Briarwood Christian Lions had to fight hard to get across the line but they got the job done late in their first-round matchup with the McAdory Yellow Jackets to survive and advance to the next round April 25 at Lions Pride Stadium to outlast the upset-minded Yellow Jackets in a tightly-fought first round contest The Lions entered the match off a tough test as they faced a rotated Oak Mountain squad and lost 7-1 in their regular season finale but before the loss to the undefeated national No they had won each of their last 12 matches Briarwood has lost just twice since an 0-3 stint at the Southern Shootout securing tight wins against most of their opposition with opportune goals and tight defense Both came into play on Friday night in a game that saw the Lions tangle with a 16-2 McAdory team that had only two losses to Helena on its resume but one taking on easily its biggest test of the season Briarwood’s defense dominated the early run of play as the Lions kept the Jackets scoreless in the opening 40 minutes That proved crucial as the Lions couldn’t just score in the first half Briarwood entered the final 10 minutes still in search of a goal to avoid overtime a loss that would end the season prematurely for the No Their strike came in the 73rd minute when Thomas Lanier stepped up to the free kick spot He curled a cross 40 yards into the box for a rising Jake Vandixhorn While Vandixhorn’s effort hit the crossbar Tucker’s scissor-kick shot buried the ball in the back of the net to put the Lions up 1-0 with a long-awaited goal Briarwood’s defense held on for the final seven minutes to secure the clean sheet and advance to the second round The game was another example of the Lions’ improved set-piece execution Briarwood scored off free kicks or corner kicks just twice in the entire 2024 season leading to all three goals in the home game against Pelham and the one against McAdory The Lions will have a tough test on their hands in the second round when they host their area foe the Chelsea Hornets on Tuesday Briarwood holds a 2-0 season-series lead over Chelsea having won 6-2 at home and 2-1 on the road the Briarwood Christian Lions prevailed to shut out the Helena Huskies 8-0 on Friday HELENA – As the rain fell down heavily at Helena High School for the Class 6A state playoffs there was no choice but for both Briarwood Christian and Helena to fight through and hope for goals to be put on the board The Briarwood Christian Lions played aggressively through the soaking conditions to defeat the Helena Huskies 8-0 on Friday recording a dominant win to move on to the second round of their postseason journey the game turned into a feast for the Lions as they attacked intuitively spending much of the entire game in their offensive third The goal-scoring started quickly in the sixth minute Madison Bell got a pass off towards the left side to Taylor Matthews who took it just inside the numbers and inside the 18-yard box to score The 1-0 scoreline proved fatal early for Helena Just a few minutes later in the ninth minute Taylor Leib continued her stellar season with a strike to put her Lions up 2-0 proving their ability to play tough in the rain Briarwood then went on a hiatus of production but still held the advantage by a large margin in all facets of the game Ellie Rushing took advantage of a mostly open field ahead of her driving down the center of the pitch to score right before the half and putting things at 3-0 on the road The Lions came out of the half with a firm grip on the contest but did not let up under any circumstances as the rain continued to fall Zoe Eighmy took a pass from Leib and capitalized on it to score just a few minutes removed from the break Matthews later got back on the scoreboard in the 52nd minute after scoring the game’s opening goal finding an assist from Brooklyn Barnett to make it a 5-0 game still with a boatload of time remaining The assist from Barnett was just one of many she recorded throughout the game and she was back at it again in the 57th minute finding Leib for her second goal of the game to push things to 6-0 as the game neared the home stretch Barnett and Leib connected once again just a couple of minutes later for another goal earning Leib a hat trick to open up her playoff run Briarwood tied the knot with one more goal Leib got her second assist of the game with a feed to Barnett which ended in a goal and pushed the game to its eventual final score of 8-0 Barnett and Leib combined for six assists on the night in their dominant performance playing a big part in the team’s victory in the first round Goalkeeper Cat Walker also recorded a solid clean sheet with four saves on the night the loss ends their season with a final record of 14-8-2 getting back to the playoffs once again after a perfect area slate but now turning their sights to the offseason the win carries them to the second round of the postseason Area 8 foes in the second round in the Spain Park Jaguars who they lost two twice previously this season Briarwood’s boys tennis team won the Class 4A/5A state championship by just one point over Deshler as the girls finished sixth and multiple Indian Springs players made runs MOBILE – The Briarwood Christian Lions secured a blue map by the slightest of margins on Friday April 25 as they secured the Class 4A/5A boys tennis championship by just one point in the team standings Briarwood eked out a 62-61 first-place finish over Deshler in the team standings to win at the Mobile Tennis Center who had multiple individual championships as the boys and girls performed well alongside multiple individual competitors from Indian Springs School The girls finished sixth in the team standings and won the Sportsmanship Award 2 singles championship without dropping a single set Washington’s Saif Tanveer where he didn’t lose a game before beating Providence Christian’s Mason McCallister 6-4 6-3 in the semifinals and took the championship with a 6-0 Indian Springs’ Ben Bray earned a spot in the boys No 2 quarterfinals with a three-set win over John Carroll Catholic’s Tim Meehan Bray won the first set 7-6 before losing the second one 6-2 He then secured the 12-10 third-set tiebreaker to advance Hayes McKell gave the Lions another state championship in the boys No 6-1 in straight sets to secure the championship without dropping a set Indian Springs’ Yel made the quarterfinals with a three-set win over American Christian’s Alex Horn in the first round He took the tiebreaker set 10-3 after a 7-5 second-set win Briarwood’s Kaden Gonzalez won the boys No He defeated American Christian’s Issac Merrell 6-0 6-1 in the first round and LAMP’s Justin Chung in three sets with 6-1 second-set and 10-3 third-set wins in the quarterfinals He then defeated Deshler’s Braxton Black in three sets with a 6-4 second-set and 10-7 third set victory ahead of the title match against Wilson’s Freddy Franks He won the championship in straight sets by scores of 6-1 and 7-6 Rhett Shaddinger of Briarwood was the runner-up in the boys No Washington’s Greg Moore and Randolph School’s Rudhra Patel in straight sets to reach the semifinals he won his semifinal matchup against Boaz’s Aaron Lancaster in three sets Lancaster won the first set 7-6 before Shaddinger stormed back with a 6-1 second-set win and a 10-4 tiebreaker win Shaddinger then lost to Deshler’s Oliver Thompson in three sets Baker Cullum of Briarwood took runner-up honors in the boys No He reached the finals with straight-set wins over Douglas’ Hudson Hope Providence Christian’s Austin Hayes and Randolph’s Paul Lee Briarwood’s Jani Martin reached the quarterfinals of the boys No 6-3 win over Saint James’ Danny Trock before losing to the eventual state champion Briarwood’s Ashley Brooke Tomberlin made the finals in the No Providence Christian’s Alice Pittman and Westminster Christian’s Sydney Huffman to reach the finals with each win coming in straight sets Emma Jahrus also made the finals in the girls No She defeated Russellville’s Josie Burcham 6-1 6-1 in the quarterfinals and Donoho’s Anne Marie Harris 6-4 Briarwood’s Margaret Harbor reached the championship match in the girls No 6-1 in the first round and Westminster Christian’s Elle Paparella 6-1 she beat Saint James’ Haley Huff in three sets with a 10-6 third-set tiebreaker before a straight-set loss in the title match Briarwood’s Alexis Carter finished runner-up in the girls No first over Orange Beach’s Kendall Courtney in straight sets then over Sardis’ Landrey Johnson in three sets and finally over Deshler’s Aleece Hollis in straight sets in the semifinals Indian Springs’ Sohana Caplash reached the quarterfinals in the girls No 1 singles bracket with a pair of 6-1 victories over Montgomery Catholic’s Maria Schwarz Rhett Shaddinger and Baker Cullum secured the No and a straight-set win over Indian Springs’ Gus French and Wu in the second round paved the way for a 6-3 6-1 win over Wilson’s Mason Kirk and Freddy Franks in the semifinals Shaddinger and Cullum then defeated Deshler’s Nathan Turnbo and Mason Tidwell 6-1 7-6 in a crucial finals match that helped tip the team title to the Lions’ favor Briarwood’s Martin and Perez made the boys No They started off the tournament with straight-set wins over Douglas’ Wesley Norton and Garret Weaver and Boaz’s Anderson Lambert and Isaac Faucett the duo split the first two sets with John Carroll Catholic’s Will Magruder and Tim Meehan in the semifinals before winning the third-set tiebreaker 10-5 to advance to the championship match Briarwood’s Jahraus and Sarah Wolf reached the No They defeated Providence Christian’s Logan Barron and Alice Pittman 6-3 6-1 in the first round before a pair of 6-1 set wins over Sipsey Valley’s Jenna Whatley and Savannah Butt in the quarterfinals Briarwood’s Liam Sanders and Logan Rich made the boys No 2 doubles quarterfinals with a straight-set first-round win over Randolph’s Paul Lee and Rudhra Patel NORTH SHELBY – In a battle of local rivals on Cahaba Valley Road the Briarwood Christian Lions secured a big victory in their final game of the regular season by beating the Oak Mountain Eagles 3 team in Class 7A by a score of 4-1 to earn a win over the Eagles on Tuesday The win extends the Lions’ win streak to three games after they secured a 7-0 victory over John Carroll on Tuesday April 15 and a 10-0 win over Pelham on Thursday The latter victory came in the final game of area play as Briarwood advanced to the playoffs on head-to-head goal differential after finishing tied at 3-3 with Chelsea Oak Mountain came in with a big wave of momentum after rallying to reach the playoffs for itself the Eagles survived a 1-1 overtime battle with Hewitt-Trussville on Monday April 21 to win a penalty shootout and advance to the playoffs the Lions came into the match with fresher legs not having played since Thursday versus Oak Mountain which played its rescheduled area match just 23 hours prior which forced the Eagles to rotate their squad Briarwood took advantage of the opportunity to gain momentum ahead of the playoffs with a big offensive showing against a tough Oak Mountain defense Taylor Leib found the back of the net twice as she continued her goalscoring form since returning to the Briarwood starting lineup Taylor Matthews joined her with a goal on the night while Zoey Eighmy was responsible for the other goal to give the Lions four goals on the scoreboard Briarwood’s defense also held up its end of the pitch Oak Mountain broke through the back line with a goal from Ellee Maniscalco but Lions keeper Cat Walker walked away with three saves to limit the damage to just the lone goal Briarwood finished the regular season with a 10-7 overall record The Lions will travel to the Helena Huskies on Friday at Helena High School for the first round of the playoffs The Eagles dropped to 15-5-3 to finish out the 2025 regular season Oak Mountain will hit the road as well for a county battle this time against the Thompson Warriors on Tuesday at Warrior Stadium in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs The Oak Mountain Eagles have accomplished many things over the course of their now-57-match unbeaten run but one of those that they hadn’t was a perfect regular season record the Eagles can claim that thanks to back-to-back wins in their final regular season matches against the Briarwood Christian Lions and Indian Springs School Oak Mountain defeated Briarwood 7-1 on Tuesday April 22 at Oak Mountain High School before beating Indian Springs 4-0 on Wednesday the Eagles finished the 2025 regular season a perfect 27-0 after taking on some of the best teams from throughout the state of Alabama The initial goal was to take that dominance to Georgia to face the Meadowcreek Mustangs on Friday so Oak Mountain pivoted to schedule Springs on the following Wednesday to get back up to 27 games on their schedule The Eagles took the momentum from their thrilling penalty shootout win against Hoover in the area title game into a big offensive showing against Briarwood While Oak Mountain’s defense let a goal get past it the attack made a big statement on the night as the Eagles scored seven goals over the 80-minute match Michael Dennis and Taylor Hunter each finished with multiple goals as they finished the match with two goals and an assist apiece Luke Jovanovich and Gabe Capocci earned a goal and an assist each while Roy Soldevilla rounded out the scoring with a goal Sam Collins and Nate Wright finished the match with an assist each Oak Mountain spread the attack around on offense with Dennis Capocci and Collins each finishing with two shots apiece Dennis and Hunter were a perfect 2-for-2 on scoring on shots Owen Wells also came up with four saves on five shots faced to secure the win in his 80 minutes in goal the Eagles surged ahead to take an early 1-0 lead on the opening goal They then doubled that lead to 2-0 ahead of the halftime break while keeping the defensive end of the pitch clean from goals Oak Mountain kept that momentum going into the second half when it scored two more goals in the final 40 minutes of the game The Eagles continued to keep Springs at bay and finished out the 4-0 win to end the regular season undefeated Collins turned in a big night in the final regular season game of his career Soldevilla also found the score sheet with a goal while Luke Jovanovich earned two assists and Nate Taylor had an assist as Oak Mountain finished with 27 total shots and 18 shots on goal Gerardo Rodriguez and Alex Venzor each secured two shots finishing the 70-minute match with one save Oak Mountain will take its 27-0 record into the first round of the playoffs on Monday The Eagles previously beat the Warriors 5-1 in the Lakeshore Shootout Indian Springs dropped to 14-4-3 and will face Valley in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs on Friday Briarwood fell to 17-5 overall and will host the McAdory Yellow Jackets on Friday at Lions Pride Stadium in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs The Briarwood Lions used a potent offense to sweep the Holtville Bulldogs in a doubleheader and advance in the Class 5A playoffs NORTH SHELBY – The Briarwood Christian Lions used a potent offense to sweep a doubleheader against the Holtville Bulldogs winning game one 4-0 and game two 15-3 to advance in the Class 6A state playoffs Briarwood got off to a hot start offensively in the first contest and never looked back scoring all four of its runs in the first inning and riding shutdown pitching the rest of the way The Lions drew a walk in their first three at-bats quickly loading the bases before Houston Hartsfield hit a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0 Will Clark then hit into a fielder’s choice that brought in another run but made it two outs in the bottom of the first Brayden Robertson stroked a double to right field to make it 3-0 and Robbie Paulsen hit a line-drive single to make it 4-0 Briarwood Ivan Hand was lethal on the mound for the Lions pitching a complete-game shutout to start Briarwood’s playoff journey with a bang tallied zero walks and allowed only four hits throughout the game The Lions made sure that a potential Holtville answer in game two was silenced Parker Sfakianos and Sam Lanier combined for five innings of work on the mound and five strikeouts Clark opened the scoring for Briarwood with a two-run single in the first but Holtville responded in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single The Lions roared for five runs in the second inning to make it 7-1 and never looked back Briarwood used small ball throughout the inning as back-to-back RBI bunts drove in two runs to make it 4-1 Hand singled on a pop fly to left in the next at-bat to make it 5-1 with Parker Daniels and Robertson ripping two sacrifice flies to make it 7-1 Both offenses quieted down until the third when a Bulldogs’ error brought in two more Lions to make it 9-1 Hartfield then had the highlight of the game in the next at bat crushing a triple to right field that brought in two runs Back-to-back doubles from Clark and Robertson in the top of the fourth rounded out the scoring for Briarwood and put the game firmly out of reach The Lions’ season will continue after the two impressive wins Paul’s Episcopal Saints on the road next week in round two Briarwood won the Shelby County Championship for boys golf while Oak Mountain took the girls title and a pair of OMHS golfers Briarwood's girls golf team finished second in the Shelby County Championships led by Camille Beatty's third-place finish CALERA – As many of the best golf teams from around Shelby County descended on Timberline Golf Club on Monday the Briarwood Christian Lions and Oak Mountain Eagles reigned supreme as county champions Briarwood’s boys golf team and Oak Mountain’s girls golf team won the team competition of the Shelby County Championships while Oak Mountain’s Sam Martin and Reese Powell won the boys and girls individual medals Briarwood’s boys team secured the win with a score of plus-10 beating Oak Mountain by three strokes for the team title 11th and 18th holes to counteract three bogeys and finish even-par Each Briarwood golfer finished at plus-4 or better as Anderson Dennis and Foster Butts earned scores of 74 and Sam Burns came in the clubhouse at a plus-4 score of 74 Will Burns came in second in the individual standings while Dennis finished fifth and Butts was seventh Those scores helped Briarwood fend off the Eagles for the title even as Oak Mountain had two of the top three individual golfers Sam Martin earned the individual low round with a minus-1 score of 71 off four birdies while Saxon Rockett took third place with a plus-2 score of 73 Helena rounded out the top three for the boys with a third-place score of plus-25 who was the fourth-best individual golfer on the day with a plus-3 score of 74 Chelsea finished fourth in the team standings with a score of plus-27 while Thompson came in fifth with a score of plus-30 Oak Mountain swept the team and individual titles with a score of plus-16 as Powell led the Eagles with a score of 3-under-par 68 the best of any male or female golfer at the event 15th and 16th holes as well as an albatross by shooting a three on the par-5 11th hole Caroline Gardner shot a plus-9 score of 80 including birdies on the fifth and 11th holes Kate Nickles was the other scoring golfer for Oak Mountain with a score of plus-10 at 81 Briarwood finished 12 strokes back of the Eagles with a score of plus-28 led by Presley Justice’s 5-over-par score of 76 Thompson rounded out the top three with a score of plus-78 As for the rest of the top-five individual golfers Spain Park’s Claire Johnson came in third with a 5-over-par score of 79 while competing as an individual and Briarwood’s Camille Beatty Oak Mountain’s Gardner and Thompson’s Nikki Pierce tied for fourth with a 9-over-par score of 80 Indian Springs and Calera compete on the boys side while Oak Mountain Helena and Calera were the girls teams battling for the title Spain Park and Pelham’s girls and Westminster OM’s boys also sent individual competitors to the championships the defending Class 7A boys golf state champions Spain Park did not compete Briarwood Christian Lions and Westminster School at Oak Mountain Knights all punched their tickets to the boys and girls state tennis championships with successful stints at the sectional championships Helena claimed both the boys and girls Class 6A Section 3 championships at the Pelham Tennis Center on April 15 and 15 defeating Pelham as both teams clinched state championship spots as the top two teams in the sectional points standings Section 5 girls championship while Indian Springs’ Sohana Caplash won the No 1 singles sectional title to qualify as an individual Westminster OM’s boys qualified as one of the two teams that competed in the Class 1A-3A Pelham’s Sipho Mashego won the title in straight sets 2 singles title as Andy Marshall defeated Pelham’s Jacob Lee with a pair of 6-4 score lines Helena’s Eli Andrews emerged victorious in the No 4 singles championship without dropping a game 5 singles title as Chris Trujillo defeated Helena’s Gabriel Two Bears 6-2 6 singles title with two 6-1 set wins over Pelham’s Eli Calvert Helena’s Henson and Andrews split the first two sets with Pelham’s Mashego and Lee in the No The Huskies won the first set 6-1 before a 6-4 victory in the second set for the Panthers Henson and Andrews carried their momentum into a 17-15 win in the third-set tiebreaker 2 doubles title with a pair of 6-2 set wins over Helena’s Marshall and Eaton 3 doubles finals saw Helena’s Baggett and Brewer Jones win 6-2 6-3 against Pelham’s Liam Brainerd and Trujillo Benjamin Russell and Stanhope Elmore each participated in the sectional tournaments but Helena and Pelham reached the finals in each bracket to dominate the team standings 1 singles title with a three-set victory over Helena’s Ashtyn Lackey Pieper won the first set 6-4 before Lackey came surging back with a 6-1 second-set win Pieper then took the third-set tiebreaker 10-6 to win 2 singles bracket saw Pelham’s Carolyn Morton defeat Helena’s Elizabeth Stokes 7-6 6-3 win over Helena’s Kendall Lewis in the finals Kendall Washington also brought home the No 4 singles championship for the Panthers with a three-set win over Helena’s Avery Adair Adair won the first set 6-3 before Washington took the second set 6-2 and third set 10-8 5 singles title over Wetumpka’s Mary Ellis Baker with a 6-2 Pelham senior Kylee Hester took a three-set win over Helena’s Emelia Stokes to secure the No Stokes won the first set 6-4 before Hester stormed back with a 6-3 win in the second set Hester then rolled to a 10-4 third-set win to take the championship Helena’s Lackey and Stokes defeated Pelham’s Pieper and Morton for the title The Huskies won the first set 6-1 before a 6-4 Panthers win in the second set Helena secured the 10-7 third-set win to earn the title 2 doubles match also went the distance as Pelham’s Washington and Howatt beat Helena’s Lewis and Adair The Huskies took set one 6-4 before the Panthers flipped the score line for a 6-4 second-set win Pelham held on for the 10-8 third-set victory 3 doubles title in straight sets as Eva and Emelia Stokes defeated Pelham’s Hester and Lizzie Bethers 6-4 Indian Springs’ Caplash defeated Altamont’s Kaavya Karthikeyan 6-4 2 singles bracket saw Briarwood’s Ashley Brooke Tomberlin win in three sets over Donoho’s Blair Kitchen Tomberlin won the first set 6-3 before dropping the second set 6-4 She largely remained in control in the third set for a 10-4 win and the title 3 singles title in straight sets over Donoho’s Anne Marie Harris 6-2 4 singles championship as Margaret Harbor battled through a pair a split 7-6 sets against Donoho’s Natalie Rodgers to win the third set 10-3 Alexis Carter of the Lions reached the finals in the No 5 singles bracket with a straight-set semifinal win over Leeds’ Lauren Weems before losing in a 13-11 third-set tiebreaker to Donoho’s Elizabeth Downey Briarwood’s Eva Leech finished runner-up in the No 6 singles bracket after beating Indian Springs’ Lillian Shen 7-5 6-2 in the semifinals but falling in three sets to Donoho’s Claire Tollison in the finals 1 doubles finals for Briarwood before losing 6-3 6-0 win for Jahraus and Sarah Wolf over Leeds’ Scout Thomas and Weems 3 doubles finals while representing Briarwood but lost 6-1 6-2 to Donoho’s Rodgers and Samantha Wakefield The state tennis tournament will take place on April 21-25 at the Mobile Tennis Center HOOVER – With an opportunity to remain at the top of the rankings in Class 6A and earn a spot in the postseason the Spain Park Jaguars handled business and did just that on a chilly Tuesday night Spain Park defeated the Briarwood Christian Lions 5-3 on Tuesday Area 8 title and clinching a spot in the state playoffs Head coach Robert Starr’s squad already defeated Briarwood once this season the Jags came out hungry to make a statement Reese Oldfield drove down the left side of the field and from just inside the 18-yard box struck it into the back of the net for a solid opening-minute goal the tone was set that this game would be the Jags’ to control They led the pace nearly the entire way through and continued to capitalize on goal-scoring opportunities Their next attack came just a little bit later on Addison Soehn found her way onto the scoreboard as she too broke into the open field Soehn got around to the left side of the box and found an open shooting lane scoring with ease to extend the score to 2-0 Things continued to roll for Spain Park throughout the first half as the job was nowhere close to being done and the aggressiveness kept up Priscilla Thornton got a shot off inside the box close to the net that was ultimately saved that save deflected that ball back out and found the foot of Soehn Just five minutes later in the 22nd minute the Jags were awarded a corner kick opportunity giving them another chance to find the back of the net a cluster of both Spain Park and Briarwood players got a touch on the ball in the short box before Elizabeth Gray put it in the net for another goal making it 4-0 with just under 75 percent of the game left to play the Lions got onto the board when Ellie Rushing scored through traffic to cut into the deficit ultimately putting the score at 4-1 at the break Spain Park wanted to get that goal back and continue to put pressure on Briarwood While it took a while to truly achieve that the Jags made its presence felt with more challenges on the ball than in the first half In the 56th minute Oldfield got a clear lane to the net after a ball from Gray set her up for a shot put it in to extend the lead back out to four goals at 5-1 Briarwood put up a fight in the later stages of the game it was a little too late for it as the deficit loomed large over it from the opening kick Zoey Eighmy got the ball in the middle of the box and struck it in cleanly to make it a 5-2 game Taylor Leib sent a laser in from outside of the 18-yard box to put the eventual final score at 5-3 the Jags improved their record to 13-2-1 overall and 5-0 in the area The perfect area record clinched them a playoff spot in Class 6A and guaranteed a home game in round one Spain Park now prepares to hit the road for a non-area game as it faces a Class 7A area champion in the Thompson Warriors the loss drops them to 7-7 on the year and 2-3 in the area They will look to bounce back after a week off on Tuesday April 15 when they take on the John Carroll Catholic Cavaliers at 5:30 p.m NORTH SHELBY – As Carson Tucker’s free kick rifled into the back of the Pelham Panthers’ net in the 71st minute the Briarwood Christian Lions took to the fence of Lions Pride Stadium to celebrate their all-but-clinched perfect area record it was the exclamation point his side craved ahead of the playoffs this is a matter of starting continual noise going into the playoff tournament,” Bautista said they settled in and started attacking and my goodness what a great night to be a Briarwood Lion.” there was somebody else celebrating on the other side of the fence April 17 needing a Briarwood win by three goals to punch their ticket to the Class 6A playoffs With players and coaches in attendance to see if their season would continue the free kick got the score line exactly where they needed it to be–3-0 Lions As the full-time whistle blew and both Briarwood and Chelsea celebrated the Lions their actual 3-0 win and the Hornets their playoff berth 7 team in Class 6A was eliminated from playoff contention The result came after the Panthers were less than 15 seconds away from clinching a spot in the playoffs a week prior against Chelsea Max Wever’s last-second goal cut the deficit to one to give the Hornets a fighting chance but they still needed to overcome a six-goal difference in the area goal differential tally A four-goal win over Spain Park on Tuesday and Briarwood scored the other three goals needed to put Chelsea up by one in the goal differential tally and clinch the playoff spot “The fact that we got all those things to line up is unbelievable,” said Chelsea coach Lee Miller who was in attendance along with many of his players the Lions dominated possession throughout the half as they used their speed to take command of the game with quick Briarwood’s first big chance came on an eighth-minute shot that forced a kick save from Panthers keeper Jeffery Palacios Both teams then exchanged catches on free kicks with the Lions save coming in the 17th minute before a charging Palacios effort in the 19th minute Briarwood got a dangerous break in the 25th minute that ended in a Spencer Martens long shot Pelham immediately took the ball at the other end for a cross from Johan Favero that landed in a favorable position in the box but couldn’t find a teammate Thomas Lanier then had a big pair of chances with a 28th-minute shot that was caught and a 31st-minute corner kick that nearly went in for an Olimpico The Lions followed that up with a pair of blistering long shots one of which ricocheted off the football crossbar Briarwood’s momentum continued until the 40th minute when it won a free kick with less than 10 seconds left it took stopping the game off a late yellow card on Pelham for the Lions to find the back of the net Briarwood took its time and sent in a cross from near the right sideline into the box and Lanier rose up and fired a header into the top left corner of the net past a diving Palacios scoring with just four seconds left to take a 1-0 lead into the break Both teams settled into a calmer pace in the second half as they were content to build up possessions Jair Camargo tried to generate offense in the 44th minute with a cross but Pelham couldn’t get any other players in the box The Panthers would get another chance in the 54th minute when a yellow card gave them a free kick just before the midfield line Palacios boomed in the cross and found Favero who sent a low shot to the near post that forced a save from Briarwood’s keeper Briarwood started stacking chances again just past the hour mark thanks to a 61st-minute header from Britt Wagoner that went wide and a 67th-minute Lanier shot that was deflected for a corner that corner was what produced the second goal The Lions found Cameron Harrington in the box near the far post and he headed the ball across the goal and into the netting to double the lead in the 68th minute That goal proved to be the turning point as Briarwood grabbed the game by the horns and put it away just three minutes later Tucker stepped up to take a free kick atop the box and he fired a laser past the traffic and into the goal to make it a 3-0 lead and cap off the victory giving the Lions a 6-0 area record and putting Chelsea into the playoffs over Pelham all three of Briarwood’s goals came off set pieces that was an affirmation of one of their offseason goals which was to improve their free kick and corner kick conversion rates the Lions scored just twice off set pieces “We were not very clinical when it came to those chances,” Bautista said of their set pieces last season especially in the offseason and through the season itself And that’s actually been one of our great weapons We’ve been getting to rise up and convert on those chances the playoff format and stakes going into the match meant no matter the result 7 Panthers would be eliminated at the hands of Briarwood That was something Bautista was not looking forward to He said that he did not coach his players to specifically score the third goal to eliminate Pelham but he did lament that the area play format meant only two teams from what he called the “Area of Death” would advance to the playoffs “I think the area of death that we were in it’s a shame that two of the teams don’t get a chance to play at the playoffs,” Bautista said “I just think that’s the first thing that’s in my head that Pelham absolute quality side and took us to the brink of where we had to force something special to score But the thought process for them and Chelsea it wasn’t necessarily anything other than can we keep getting better keep making what we can happen “Pelham has a quality program and what Patrick does there is unbelievable with investing into those boys but I also want take it to any team we got and beat them as best as we can And so that’s the mentality I think will take us far into the playoff tournament The Lions improved to 17-4 overall and will finish off the regular season with the toughest test imaginable–a short road trip to the undefeated national No it dropped to 16-4-3 overall and 3-3 in area play and will finish its season on the road at the 6A No Chelsea announced on its official X account that its first-round road trip to the Helena Huskies will be Friday The Hornets will host the Northridge Jaguars on Monday at Chelsea High School to finish the regular season COLUMBIANA – The Briarwood Christian Lions and Shelby County Wildcats dueled it out in a crucial area matchup on Thursday and after needing extra innings to separate the two teams Briarwood took the lead for good and held on to it in the eighth inning The Lions defeated Shelby County 10-8 in eight innings at Shelby County High School to split the regular-season series between the two county foes After the Wildcats won their first meeting 16-10 on Monday Briarwood took the early 1-0 lead in the second contest when Larsen Cummings drove in Scout Staggs ahead of the end of the top of the first While the second inning came and went without a run a pair of walks and a Staggs single loaded up the bases for the Lions MK Sweat scored off a wild pitch during the ensuing at-bat which ended with an Abigail Coker line-drive hit to right that scored two runs for the 4-0 lead but Cummings briefly kept the rally going with a solo home run for the 5-0 lead Shelby County wouldn’t get on the scoreboard until the bottom of the fourth when a walk and a Danslen Connell double set up Aaliyah Chaisson to drive in two runs and cut the deficit to 5-2 The Wildcats got a chance to continue that rally in the home half of the fifth inning Caitlan Bland reached on a one-out double before a walk and an error loaded up the bases for Connell Connell sent it to center field for a two-run double a wild pitch allowed Kaydence Connell to come home from third Madison Tolleson then reached on an infield error that scored Danslen Connell for the go-ahead run and the 6-5 lead A walk on the ensuing at-bat kept the inning alive long enough for Catelynn Davis to get a hit to left and take the lead to 7-5 Briarwood responded with a rally in the top of the sixth that was capped by a Peyton Davis RBI double but it couldn’t tie up the game in the sixth inning the Lions got a big piece of hitting from Ashley Heinemann who secured a solo home run to tie the game at 7-7 Briarwood got a pair of base runners on after that but couldn’t capitalize and Cummings worked a one-two-three inning to get to the eighth The Lions wasted little time going up in the top of the eighth with a Mary Kathryn Sweatt solo shot just three pitches into the extra inning she came home on a Coker RBI single to make the lead 9-7 Cummings then generated a run off an infield error putting Briarwood up 10-7 going into the bottom of the inning The Lions worked a pair of outs to start the inning before a walk and an error kept the inning alive Danslen Connell then hit an RBI single to cut the gap to two runs but the next batter flew out to end the game and give Briarwood the win Staggs was 3-for-4 with a walk and three runs and Davis and Heinemann each finished 3-for-5 as Heinemann had a run in addition to her solo home run and Davis earned an RBI two runs and an RBI and Coker was 2-for-5 with three RBI and a run Cummings went the distance for all eight innings throwing for 14 strikeouts in eight innings while giving up seven hits and five walks Just three of the eight runs that crossed home were earned runs She also went 2-for-5 from the clean-up spot with two RBI and a run Danslen Connell finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs Chaisson earned seven strikeouts in a complete-game loss Briarwood lost its next game against John Carroll 15-7 on Monday The 7-14-1 Lions will finish the regular season with a road trip to the Central Volunteers of Clay County on Tuesday How to watch Alabama high school girls soccer: Helena vs April 25Data SkriveHelena High School will host Briarwood Christian School on Friday How to watch Briarwood Chr. vs. Helena girls soccerBriarwood Chr. and Helena will match up on Friday, April 25, at 5 p.m. CT. Don't miss out on any of the action with NFHS Network Watch Helena vs. Briarwood Chr. on NFHS Network! After trailing by as much as 22 in the first half Montevallo is in the Elite Eight thanks to a comeback rally against Briarwood that encapsulated a city’s fighting spirit and refusal to quit MONTGOMERY – With 30 seconds left and his brother Keiston at the line extending the Montevallo Bulldogs’ lead to 49-47 Buck Ross turned to a security guard on the baseline and said four words Those words came at the end of an effort fitting for a small college town and its high school that has always scrapped its way to relevance even when it was overlooked and down in the fight which is exactly what its basketball team was earlier in the game The Briarwood Christian Lions were firing on all cylinders in their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2000 leading by as much as 22 points in the final minutes of the first half The Bulldogs roared back in the second half diminishing the Lions lead as the noise from Montevallo’s supporters grew and grew By the time Demeco Gibson made a layup while being fouled to take the 41-39 lead that noise erupted into a deafening crescendo capping the comeback and paving the way for a 50-48 win on Thursday 13 at Alabama State’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome in the Class 5A Sweet 16 Montevallo will advance to its first Elite Eight since 2020 giving the city another incredible achievement to celebrate: a regional finals appearance in its first season in Class 5A our community,” Montevallo coach Byron Gaskin said “It’s been years since we’ve been (to the) Elite Eight and even longer since we’ve tried to make a run to the state championship so we’re just trying to take it one possession at a time and keep playing.” Briarwood stormed out of the gate in the first quarter using baskets from Eli Stubbs and Sam Canale to score nine straight points to start the game and force a Bulldogs timeout Montevallo started to find some offense and went on a 6-0 run thanks to Demeco Gibson Dee Cutts and Keiston Ross’ first points of the morning but Charlie Caldwell’s first triple of the game and a Drew Mears layup made the lead 18-6 at the end of the first quarter Brayden Robertson kicked off the second quarter with a basket before turning the scoring back over to Stubbs He hit a turnaround fadeaway jumper in the low post to force a timeout and then hit a corner 3-pointer to increase the lead to 25-8 with 5:38 left in the half Canale continued his strong half with a fast-break layup and a 3-pointer to get him into double figures for the first half Eli Thompson then joined the scoring party to give Briarwood its biggest lead of the half at 32-10 that’s when Montevallo started to shift the tide The Bulldogs scored six of the next eight points including back-to-back buckets from Jaylen Ray and Buck Ross to close the half and cut the deficit to 34-16 the coaching staff preached the need to reset so the team could recapture its stellar form that led it to an area championship upset of Selma “We know we didn’t play our best game,” Gaskin said “We’ve been playing good our last three I think the guys were kind of deer in headlights a little bit but couldn’t get shots to fall early and Briarwood was hitting everything.” Montevallo continued building momentum during the third quarter led by a lockdown defense The Bulldogs engaged in an up-and-down battle in the opening minutes of the third to draw within 13 Mears scored his second basket in 31 seconds to extend the lead back to 15 but it would be the last Lions field goal for over a quarter Nahjear Russell made a driving layup to kick off a 21-1 run during the third and fourth quarters scoring nine points down the stretch of the third including a late 3-pointer and a pair of free throws to make it a 39-37 at the end of the quarter Russell tied up the game at 39-39 just 50 seconds into the fourth quarter and that led to a tense stretch of nearly two minutes where the county foes remained in a deadlock Gibson drew contact at the rim for an and-1 to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 42-39 sending the fans who traveled down Interstate 65 from “the city” into a frenzy Russell scored again 40 seconds later to trigger a Briarwood timeout with a 44-39 lead Garrett Witherington ended the drought with a put-back with 3:43 remaining the team’s first points since his free throw with 3:01 left in the third Stubbs made it a one-point game with 2:48 left and the teams traded blows over the next minute-and-a-half Robertson and Cutts exchanged points on either end of the floor but Robertson had the last word of the exchange with two free throws to make it 48-47 Montevallo with 1:10 remaining the Bulldogs nearly faced disaster as Eli Thompson stole the ball off the inbounds He drove for the layup to give his team the lead but Keiston Ross denied it at the rim to preserve Montevallo’s slim one-point advantage He took the lead to three at the free throw line just a few seconds later Robertson then went to the free throw line with 6.5 seconds left and made his first shot to make it a 50-48 game He missed the second intentionally to try and tie the game off a tip-in but the Lions couldn’t convert and the Bulldogs sealed their historic Elite Eight trip Montevallo’s big offensive sparks came from Cutts and Keiston Ross as Cutts earned 16 points six rebounds and three steals while Ross finished with 13 points and six rebounds Nahjear Russell stuffed the stat sheet with eight points its own historic 19-12 season ends in the Sweet 16 after its first trip to regionals in 25 years Robertson finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds while Canale also scored 10 points to go with his four boards one of the Lions’ most reliable spark plugs in Mears was held to just eight points off 4-for-13 shooting by the Bulldogs defense Defense was what Gaskin preached at the break to help spark Montevallo on “It started on the defensive end for us,” Gaskin said “We gave up five points that third quarter and that just ignited our offense and that’s the catalyst to get us going on offense.” Gaskin said the team’s resilience is what got it this far “They finally got to understand it throughout the year of what it takes to really win and you’ve got to play hard every possession You can’t take anything for granted.” The Bulldogs will aim to do just that against the winner of Selma and Sylacauga in the Class 5A Central Regional finals on Tuesday 18 at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome as they look to make the city proud once again How to watch Alabama high school girls soccer: Spain Park vs April 29Data SkriveBriarwood Christian School plays on the road against Spain Park High School at 6 p.m How to watch Briarwood Chr. vs. Spain Park girls soccerBriarwood Chr. and Spain Park will hit the field on Tuesday, April 29, at 6 p.m. CT. Don't miss out on any of the action with NFHS Network Watch Spain Park vs. Briarwood Chr. on NFHS Network! Falling tree limbs in Birmingham kills one person Briarwood Presbyterian Church will hold its 32nd annual Walk-Through Nativity on Dec For more information, visit Briarwood.org. HOOVER – With the wind blowing hard and cold temperature making its presence felt in the early stages of April the Briarwood Christian Lions were searching for a second half surge to secure an area title and a trip back to the playoffs As the score sat at 2-1 in the 53rd minute just a short time after the Spain Park Jaguars had scored the Lions were driving down the field when Sawyer Felton put in a cross that found the foot of Ian Robertson That foot put it into the back of the net to stretch the lead back out to two goals which was just what was needed to help lead them to a victory on the road Briarwood defeated Spain Park 4-1 on Tuesday securing a spot in the Class 6A state playoffs for yet another season and maintaining its perfect area record in the process which was kept up for most of the game as long as the Lions had possession of the ball that rapid pace did not lead to much scoring in the first half as things did not get going for a while in the contest Briarwood found numerous scoring opportunities in the early portions of the game but it was not until the 23rd minute that it actually capitalized It was at that moment that Spencer Martens got hold of a ball inside the box on a carom the game continued to remain tightly contested with neither team seemingly being able to break away from their opponent that fate began to turn slightly towards the Lions As a ball was about to go out of bounds for a Jags goal kick Lucio Cortez got on the ground and slid to save it ultimately getting it to Thomas Lanier for a second goal right before the intermission Bobby Propper made his way through the left side through multiple gaps in the defense Propper put a lob up and got it behind the Briarwood goalkeeper for a score the Lions made a run again in the 53rd minute Felton made a push towards the goal before making a cross to an open Robertson through a tight gap That goal extended the game back out to 3-1 Briarwood controlled the pace and grasped all the momentum they had with them until the end That’s exactly what they got in the 63rd minute of the game when Lanier got into Briarwood’s offensive third and took a shot from way outside the 18-yard box The ball deflected off of Winston Owens hands in goal and bounced into the net for a score to put the nail in the coffin at 4-1 While the Jags tried to make another burst and they ultimately dropped another area game on the year Lanier easily had a large impact on the game causing problems for Spain Park when he had possession of the ball and making his mark on a big area win for Briarwood the Lions improved to 14-4 overall and 5-0 in the area extending their winning streak to nine games Area 8 title and a home playoff game in round one They hope to continue that success in a home game against Montgomery Academy on Thursday the Jags fall to 4-12-2 on the year and 0-5 in the area dashing their hopes at a postseason berth in 2025 They will try to bounce back in a non-area contest on Thursday April 10 when they travel to take on the Thompson Warriors at 7 p.m MICH (WXYZ) — You're invited to celebrate the year of the snake at Briarwood Mall The Lunar New Year event will be held on Saturday Guests will enjoy a mall-wide dragon parade The Dragon and Lion Parade will begin at noon It will be followed by various live performances including martial arts Chinese Folk Dance and Children's Chinese Folk Dances This includes crafts and Chinese calligraphy in the Macy's Wing from 2 p.m To learn more about Briarwood Mall, visit https://www.simon.com/mall/briarwood-mall/news-and-events. Kenna’d Buie scored 20 points to lead Shelby County to an area title on the road over Briarwood BIRMINGHAM – The Shelby County Wildcats have won the Class 5A Area 8 title after a tight win over the Briarwood Christian Lions on Wednesday Shelby County won 41-39 to continue its magical season that has seen the Wildcats win more games this season (18) than they had in the previous four seasons combined (11) “I feel like we were the underdogs all year long,” Shelby County head coach Ashley Phillips said “We were playing our best basketball at the end Kenna’d Buie shined once again for Shelby County nearly half of the Wildcats’ scoring output Buie was the only Shelby County player to score in double figures as the seventh grader got to the paint with ease behind impressive ball-handling techniques Emma Kerley and Ann Tatum Baker combined for 24 of Briarwood’s 39 points with Kerley scoring 14 and Baker adding 10 on a night when she scored her 1,00th career point The dynamic duo were the only Lions to crack the double-figure mark The Wildcats opened the game with a stifling 2-3 zone on the defensive side of the ball Briarwood was forced to take plenty of contested 3-pointers as coach Phillips’ team rotated well on defense as Briarwood took a 3-2 lead behind a corner three from Sasha Munikar with 5:06 left in the first driving the ball to the paint repeatedly to push the lead to 12-4 with 1:20 left The score of the game was 12-7 headed to the second quarter after a three from Baker near the end of the first The second quarter began with great defensive efforts from both teams Shelby County and the Lions both caused multiple turnovers The game sat at 15-13 with 2:30 left in the quarter the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run to close the quarter step-back three from Buie at the buzzer that stunned Briarwood’s home crowd The third quarter saw the Lions respond from Shelby County’s second-quarter run Briarwood’s defense didn’t allow a point from the Wildcats until 3:37 left in the quarter when Arnold scored a layup Briarwood took advantage of the tough defense on the offensive end by playing through Kerley The third was Kerley’s best quarter of the night as she scored nine of her 14 points Briarwood cut the lead to a two-point game Shelby County finally responded to the Lions’ onslaught behind a timely bucket from Emily Dixon Dixon’s only points in the quarter came on a layup off an offensive rebound that pushed the lead to four with 1:53 left While Buie was the star of the game for the Wildcats plays like Dixon’s were equally important in delivering the area title to Shelby County Buie ran out in transition and found Arnold for a three to push the lead to 31-24 right at a minute to go Kerley responded with a Stephen Curry-range 3-pointer of her own to cut the lead right back to four The score sat at 31-27 headed to the fourth with an electric atmosphere at Briarwood’s gym as both fanbases knew what was at stake the Wildcats held a 35-29 lead with 4:23 left in the game Briarwood coach Lorie Kerley initiated a full-court press as Buie broke it and found Sanyia Floyd wide open on the other end for a layup Baker then hit a clutch three on the other end to make it 37-32 Buie broke the press again and found Dixon for another easy layup Clara Crawford hit a layup for the Lions at the other end to make it 39-34 but Arnold responded on the other end with a layup of her own to make it 41-34 with 2:19 left The Wildcats then called a timeout and after this Shelby County did not score another point the rest of the game Briarwood got a 3-pointer from Baker out of the timeout making it 41-37 with just under two minutes left The Lions then had multiple chances offensively but could not capitalize The Wildcats turned it over with 1:21 left but Kerley missed a deep 3-pointer after a clunky possession and Baker missed an open three to keep the score locked at 41-37 The Wildcats called timeout with 14.7 seconds left on the clock What happened next will be remembered by both fan bases for years to come Briarwood hit a layup off of a turnover with seven seconds left Buie was then immediately fouled on the following inbounds play Buie made the long walk to the free-throw line leaving the door open for the Lions to pull off a miracle finish Briarwood inbounded the ball near half-court and found Kerley in the corner Kerley fell to the ground due to a push in the back and Shelby County won after the clock hit zeros Phillips spoke on what the win means not only for the school and for us to win the area tournament it’s really big for our town.” the Wildcats’ storied season will continue in a sub-regional game on Friday against Elmore County at Shelby County High School Briarwood will hit the road to face Valley on the same day at 6 p.m Briarwood improved to 4-0 in area play as the Lions took advantage of their opportunities at the plate to sweep the season series with Shelby County The Briarwood Christian Lions continued their undefeated run through Class 5A Area 8 as they got through one of their toughest tests on the area schedule in Shelby County April 1 at Shelby County High School and then a 14-4 victory in five innings on Thursday The wins helped the Lions sweep the series and improve to 4-0 in area play with one series remaining Briarwood went right to work to start the opening game getting three-straight singles after a lead-off strikeout in the top of the first That let the Lions take a 2-0 lead on the ensuing play after the Wildcats opted to get the out at second Shelby County cut the deficit in half in the home half of the first Colby Matherson drew a lead-off walk and went all the way to third off a Cooper Pennington single That set him up to come home when Cale Blevins’ fly ball went deep enough on the left field line to bring him home After a couple of singles in the bottom of the second Matherson hit a ground ball to third that got Skyler Smith caught in a rundown one of Briarwood’s throws sailed over the third baseman and allowed Smith to score to tie the game at 2-2 Briarwood then drew a pair of walks in the third before Will Clark came up in a two-out situation Shelby County tried to make a diving catch in right field but missed allowing Parker Daniels and Brayden Robertson to come home for the 4-2 lead Briarwood loaded up the bases again in the top of the fourth and after the Wildcats recovered with a pair of outs Robertson ripped a line drive right down left field to score Sfakianos and Seth Staggs and after Shelby County made a pitching change to start the sixth A hit batter led to an intentional walk in an effort to force an inning-ending double play but an error at short loaded up the bases for Clark this time with an RBI single to left to increase the lead to 7-2 Robbie Paulsen then brought a run home on a sacrifice fly to make it a six-run game after the sixth Briarwood finished the game off with more offense in the seventh After a lead-off walk was followed by a Staggs double Houston Hartsfield hit one into right that led to another Wildcats error That play plated a run before Brooks Allred got the final run home off a ground out to help put the finishing touches on the 10-2 win Clark finished with a team-high three RBI on a 2-for-4 day Ivan Hand struck out six batters across 6.2 innings while working around two runs Pennington secured seven strikeouts across his five-inning start against two earned runs the Lions faced some early adversity on their home diamond as Shelby County loaded up the bases with nobody out in the top of the first The Wildcats drew a bases-loaded walk to go up 1-0 but Hartsfield recovered with a pair of strikeouts to get out of the inning Briarwood got Staggs on with a lead-off walk in the bottom half of the inning and a Daniels double and a Robertson walk gave the Lions their own chance to strike with the bases loaded Briarwood took a 3-1 lead off a pair of bases-loaded walks and an infield error and that set up Brooks Allred to make the lead 5-1 on a two-run double to center field The Lions only built on that lead in the bottom of the second after a scoreless top half of the frame Shelby County committed back-to-back errors to start the inning Clark singled on the first pitch he saw to load up the bases for Hand Briarwood then scored two runs on the next two pitches first off a Hand sacrifice fly and then off an RBI single by Paulsen to increase the lead to 7-1 Shelby County came storming back in the top of the third The first two batters of the inning reached freely off a walk and a hit by pitch and Davis Ruston set up the Wildcats with another bases-loaded situation with a single on the ensuing at-bat That meant Smith just needed a ground out to score a run and set up a run of three-straight scoring plays A Hunter King bunt led to an error and another run and Ethan Hall came up big on another bunt to cut the deficit to 7-4 by scoring Ruston from third The Lions responded in a big way in the bottom half of the inning using a lead-off walk to set up an RBI triple from Staggs He then came home on a wild pitch to make it a 9-4 ball game Briarwood gave up its first out shortly after but a pair of hit batters and a walk let Hartsfield come right home for another run Paulsen took the lead to 12-4 two pitches later with a two-run double The Lions secured the win in the bottom of the fifth as John Henry Baker scored a run on an RBI single and Charles Dedmon came home on a passed ball to seal the 14-4 victory by the run rule Paulsen was 2-for-2 with two walks and four RBI Allred secured two RBI in his 1-for-3 outing and Daniels finished 2-for-4 the 14-12 Lions will face Central-Clay County in their final area series of the season at Central High School in Lineville before it resumes on Thursday Shelby County dropped to 12-12 ahead of a Saturday The Wildcats will finish out area play next week against Sylacauga with game one coming on the road on Tuesday April 8 before the series concludes Thursday a 21-year-old suffered a shooting injury in the incident That person was shot in the torso and leg and was taken to the hospital for treatment Police say the suspects were quickly identified was sentenced to serve a minimum of 10 years in prison and Eric Jones,32 was sentenced to serve a minimum of 20 years in prison — Kwame Riddle will spend the next 18 years in prison for killing Terry Taylor early July 11 in the 1600 block of Briarwood Court pleaded guilty Tuesday to a lesser charge of manslaughter according to the plea agreement filed with the court The charge of murder and the sentence-enhancing charge of being a habitual offender will be dismissed on April 24 at his sentencing hearing The plea agreement calls for Riddle to receive a 25-year prison sentence he will have to serve 75% of that sentence — a little less than 19 years he will have served nine months of the sentence in pretrial detention Riddle will be 53 and will begin serving a five-year stint on probation in the middle of the street during an argument that started out as good-natured trash talking but escalated about 12:40 a.m according to the prosecutors' probable cause affidavit Witnesses told police that it appeared that Riddle and Taylor each threw punches at the same time leading witnesses to believe that Riddle stabbed Taylor in the first exchange of punches Riddle left Taylor lying in the middle of the street and drove away in his girlfriend's car also was involved in the aftermath of Taylor's killing by trying to help Riddle Hannah's apartment was the focal point of the predawn investigation at the scene Her apartment door had police evidence decals on it and possible blood stains Taylor died in the parking lot just yards from Hannah's front door Prosecutors charged Hannah with assisting a criminal obstruction of justice and false informing Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com Briarwood’s playoff run ended in the Elite Eight as Marbury pulled away down the stretch to reach the Final Four MONTGOMERY – The Briarwood Christian Lions saw their playoff run come to an end on Tuesday 18 as they fell to the Marbury Bulldogs 49-42 in the Central Regional Finals at Alabama State’s Dunn-Oliver Acadome The game opened up slow from the field as a Marbury field goal was the lone basket from the field for both teams in the first five minutes the Bulldogs took a 6-1 lead from the free throw line before Sasha Munikar made a 3-pointer with 1:37 left in the first That kicked off a more fast-paced scoring stretch as Marbury responded to a pair of Briarwood baskets and took an 11-6 lead into the second quarter after hitting their first 3-pointer of the game Grace Garrett trimmed the deficit to two with a 3-pointer in the opening minute of the second but the Bulldogs continued to succeed from the field and scored five straight points to take a 16-9 lead and force a Lions timeout with 5:51 left in the half Briarwood rallied out of the timeout and scored 11 straight points to electrify their traveling fans Claire Anderson tied the game up with a big 3-pointer before Garrett scored a transition layup to take the lead and Clara Crawford made a turnaround jumper to put her team up 20-16 with 1:49 left in the second The teams then traded free throws during the final minutes to leave Briarwood up 23-18 at halftime Emma Kerley and a Marbury player each got called for technical fouls with 47.8 seconds left before the Bulldogs’ Justice Blackmon got her own tech call with 0.1 seconds left After making just two 3-pointers in the first half Marbury erupted from behind the arc to start the third quarter Blackmon made four 3-pointers by herself in the third including three straight to open the half and take a 27-23 lead forcing a Lions timeout with 2:59 left in the third A Sarah Travis basket was the lone offense from the field for Briarwood in the third as Marbury took a 32-26 lead into the fourth quarter The pressure built in the opening two minutes of the quarter before Kerley hit a big 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 32-29 with 6:10 left after taking the brunt of physical plays throughout the game she tried to get a Marbury defender out of her face The referees gave her a second technical foul and ejected her That proved to be a momentum-changing call as the Bulldogs took a seven-point lead less than a minute later Marbury went on a 12-2 run to take a 44-31 lead into the final three minutes of the game Baker tried to will the team on to a comeback with seven points in a span of 1:03 another Bulldogs 3-pointer and a pair of free throws off Crawford’s fifth foul of the game deepened the hole to 48-39 Munikar made one last stand with a 3-pointer with 35.8 seconds left too last as Marbury advanced to the Final Four with a seven-point win Kerley and Garrett each had six points while Kerley added six rebounds and Garrett earned three rebounds Crawford finished with five points and six rebounds in the post but the Lions have multiple positives to take from the season including a run to the Elite Eight after falling short in the area title game to Shelby County coach Lorie Kerley’s team will also return its entire roster next season as they search to finish the job and reach their first Final Four since 1998 Briarwood survived a tough test from Shelby County with a go-ahead basket from Emma Kerley to keep the Lions undefeated in area play NORTH SHELBY – With just four seconds on the clock and her team trailing by one With the Briarwood Christian Lions inbounding the ball after she drew a foul near the baseline she cut toward the basket through what open space she could find caught the pass and put the ball near the basket the Briarwood Christian School gym erupted as Kerley gave her team its first lead in four-and-a-half minutes putting the Lions in front when it mattered the most: as the final buzzer sounded Kerley’s 16-point and 11-rebound double-double was a key part of Briarwood’s 39-38 win over the Shelby County Wildcats on Thursday but it wasn’t the only part as her teammates helped fight off a stiff challenge from the opening tip Daleigh Griffin added a 3-pointer with 6:20 remaining in the first to put Shelby County up 5-0 The Lions struggled to get points for first couple of possessions but they responded with a pair of baskets down low from Clara Crawford cutting the deficit to 5-4 with 4:28 remaining in the quarter Buie grabbed the lead back after the teams went scoreless for nearly two minutes but Emma Kerley finally found her shooting stroke and hit a pair of 3-pointers to take a 10-7 lead Morgan Arnold answered with a 3-pointer to leave the score tied at 10-10 at the end of the first Kerley scored once again just 29 seconds into the second quarter and the Lions wouldn’t trail from there for the rest of the half The teams could only manage free throws over the next three-and-a-half minutes before Kerley made it a two-possession game with another 3-pointer extending the lead to 17-11 with 3:51 remaining in the quarter Buie took over once again in the final three minutes of the quarter scoring a pair of baskets and free throws that were only broken up by a Sasha Munikar 3-pointer With the deficit down to just 20-17 with 39.5 seconds left Wildcats coach Ashley Phillips called timeout to gather his troops and Arnold hit a massive 3-pointer off the ensuing inbounds to tie the game up at 20-20 Kerley drew contact on a drive with one second left and hit one of the two free throws to secure a 21-20 halftime lead After the teams exchanged free throws in the opening minutes of the second half the game morphed into a slow and methodical 3-point shooting battle Munikar answered an Arnold 3-pointer with one of her own ahead of a Lions timeout Griffin knocked down another one to restore a 28-26 lead for Shelby County The best that Briarwood could do in the final minutes of the third was tie it up as the Wildcats had a response to their free throws on the offensive end Shelby County increased its lead to four on the foul line before the Lions cut the deficit to 32-30 with 10 seconds left in the third While Briarwood went into the fourth quarter trailing Crawford restored a two-point lead with two baskets in the opening 1:30 of the final quarter the Wildcats went on a 6-0 run over the next four minutes Buie and Connell to take a 38-34 lead with a minute remaining The Lions struggled to score from the field until Munikar hit a breakthrough 3-pointer with 40.4 seconds left to electrify the crowd and make it a one-point game A tense sequence followed as Briarwood turned the ball over on the inbounds pass only for Shelby County to miss a low post shot on the other end The Lions got the ball back on a tie-up and held on for a good shot opportunity but Kerley was fouled on a drive to give her team an inbounds chance under the basket with just four seconds left Kerley made a cut towards the basket to receive the pass and make the game-winning shot sparking a massive crowd reaction as her teammates mobbed her in celebration Briarwood will travel to Tuscaloosa to face the Northridge Jags on Saturday Sardis High School's Callie Rae Bonds helped her team win its first state tennis championship on Friday .st1{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;fill:#2a2a2a}By AL.com ReportsSardis High School dominated the competition to win the Lions’ first girls state tennis championship on Friday in Class 4A/5A play while Briarwood Christian’s boys edged Deshler by a point to claim their fifth all-time title as the 80th AHSAA State Tennis Championships wrapped up at the Mobile Tennis Center Coach Dustin Young’s Sardis squad totaled 65 points to win over runner-up Deshler’s 42 points Randolph (31) and Briarwood Christian (30) Briarwood’s boys claimed their first championship since 2019 Coach Jay Wise’s Lions got the final points they needed when No 3 partners Rhett Shaddinger and Baker Cullum squeaked out a come-from-behind 2-6 10-6 victory over Faywad Ismail and Tru Bynum of Randolph School The Lions finished with 62 points to 61 for Deshler Deshler High School junior Everette Minshew serves on the way to an AHSAA Class 4A/5A State Tennis Championship on Friday Deshler got a boost from junior Everette Minshew (39-1) who defeated John Carroll Catholic senior Will Magruder (29-6) to capture the No 1 doubles title as well – beating Briarwood’s duo Jani Martin and Alec Perez in the finals Randolph’s Lova Stenberg (26-4) won the Class 4A/5A girls No 1 flight handing Sardis junior Callie Rae Bonds (43-1) her first loss of the season in the 6-3 Bonds teamed with Jayden Johnson to beat Stenberg and Emma Skinner in the No Complete girls’ results can be found at this link. The boys results can be found at this link AHSAA 2025 TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPSMOBILE TENNIS CENTER Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) Brooklyn Barnett and Thomas Lanier each finished with two goals apiece as Briarwood’s boys and girls soccer teams secured wins over Class 7A top-10 Thompson NORTH SHELBY – The Briarwood Christian Lions continued their strong start to the season on both the boys and girls sides thanks to a pair of wins over one of the top teams in Class 7A 6 Thompson 2-1 in the boys game on Tuesday Thomas Lanier was the hero for the home side as he had both goals in the 2-1 win After going over an hour without breaking through the Thompson defense and Briarwood finished the job to score a 63rd minute goal The Lions kept pressing the attack and were rewarded 12 minutes after their initial score Cameron Harrington’s chance found Lanier in the 75th minute to put Briarwood ahead with five minutes left The Warriors could only score once in the entire match and were unable to equalize in the final minutes which sealed the 2-1 victory for the Lions on their home turf The girls game saw Briarwood put seven goals past Thompson in a commanding showing for the Lions’ veteran attack Taylor Leib got the offense going for the Lions early as she sent a chance over to Brooklyn Barnett who finished off the goal to get the hosts on the board The pair of seniors traded roles on the second goal of the half as Barnett took care of the final pass to the goal-scoring Leib Both teams scored in the opening half of play Briarwood went into the break with a 2-1 lead That lead only grew in the second half as the Lions kept attacking the net Taylor Matthews got in on the goal-scoring action as Leib found her on a pass to score Briarwood’s third goal of the match The Lions used that exact connection to fuel their next goal as well giving Matthews her second goal of the game and Leib her third assist of the evening Leib secured a brace of her own shortly after as she scored an unassisted goal to give the Lions five goals and increase the lead against Thompson Mallon Sigler became the fourth different goal scorer for the girls team on the night thanks to a goal she scored all by herself for the team’s sixth goal Briarwood went back to how the match started as Leib assisted on Barnett’s second goal of the night as they secured their third goal as a pairing against the Warriors Thompson could only offer up one goal in response as the Lions secured the five-goal win to bounce back from their last loss to Dothan 10 days ago four different Briarwood players earned braces as Lanier scored twice in the boys game while Leib Matthews and Barnett did the same in the girls match Leib paired her brace with four assists while Barnett added an assist as well thanks to the second goal The Lions boys improved to 5-3 with the victory They will next play on the road at Homewood on Tuesday Briarwood’s girls took their record to 2-2 on the year they will next play on the road at Vestavia Hills on Friday Thompson’s boys dropped to 4-2-1 while the girls fell to 3-1-1 with their first loss of the campaign Both teams will be in action at Waldrop on Friday before the boys are scheduled to take the pitch at 7 p.m LINEVILLE – The Briarwood Christian Lions are heading to the 2025 Class 5A baseball playoffs as the No Area 8 as they continued their torrid pace through area play with a tight win on the road Briarwood defeated the Central Volunteers of Clay County 5-3 on Tuesday April 8 at Central High School in Lineville The win moved the Lions to 5-0 in area play and assured them of an area championship ahead of Thursday’s game two of the final series Briarwood wasted little time in the top of the first as a Seth Staggs lead-off walk and a Houston Hartsfield single set up an RBI single from Parker Daniels on the third at-bat of the game That gave the Lions a 1-0 lead before suffering three outs on the next two plays Briarwood then rallied in the top of the second as Ivan Hand’s one out single gave way to a walk and an error to load up the bases Staggs then plated two runs with an RBI single to make the lead 3-0 Central started making its way back in the bottom of the third an error in the infield two batters later let the runner come home and cut the deficit to 3-1 The Lions got a pair of one-out singles in the top of the fourth before Parker Williamson came home on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 4-1 The Vols got a pair of runners on in the bottom of the fourth with one out thanks to a single and a walk Central sent an RBI single to right field to make it a two-run game an error after the throw to home plate made the score 4-3 Things began to change though when Staggs hit a one-out single He stole second on the next at-bat before Hartsfield flew out to right The Vols tried to throw back to second to get Staggs but an error allowed him to come all the way home for an insurance run Briarwood then slammed the door shut when Parker Sfakianos came in and didn’t allow any runs in the sixth or seventh on the road to victory Daniels was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Hans was 2-for-3 on the day Hand struck out five batters in five innings allowing just one earned run while working around three total runs The Lions will finish out the area series on Thursday Rhys Jones was the hero for Spain Park on senior night as he walked it off against Briarwood to give his team its first win of the young season HOOVER – The Spain Park Jaguars may have struggled against some tough opponents during the PBR Kickoff Classic on the opening weekend of the season but they fought to secure their first win of the young campaign in their home opener Thanks to a Rhys Jones walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning Spain Park defeated the Briarwood Christian Lions 3-2 on Tuesday 19 at Spain Park High School to get into the win column the Jags honored their 13 seniors for their contributions to the program: Arnold Bush Spain Park had to play from behind as Briarwood struck first in the first inning After the first two batters of the game popped out on three total pitches Parker Daniels swung for the fences on a 3-1 count and was rewarded with a solo shot to put the Lions up 1-0 The Jags responded in the bottom half of the inning after the lead-off batter walked ahead of a Jones single With a pair of runners in scoring position Joe Cross put the ball in play to bring Slade Bounds home and tie the game at 1-1 Briarwood got out of the jam by getting the next two batters to fly out to strand the runners at the corners The Lions got an opportunity to strike back in the top of the second after infield errors put John Paul Harbor and Parker Sfakianos on with no outs Harbor scored on the next pitch to put Briarwood up 2-1 Spain Park came up empty in the bottom of the second but didn’t let a second inning go by without scoring a run Jones hit a lead-off double to put a runner in scoring position for Eli Smallwood who hit a line drive to left on the first pitch he saw The RBI single tied the game back up at 2-2 neither team scored until the seventh inning as the Jags and Lions were unable to get more than one runner on base during any given inning before the defense shut them down Spain Park had to deal with some trouble in the top of the seventh as the hosts walked a pair of batters to put two on with two out Charlie Kramer got a grounder to short to get the pinch runner Charles Dedmon out at second and send the teams to the bottom of the seventh The Jags also benefitted from a pair of walks as they got Jack Lutenbacher and Bounds to reach base on the first two at-bats of the inning The biggest difference was Jones’ response He hit a line drive to right on his first pitch of the at-bat to walk it off on senior night for Spain Park and take the 3-2 win Jones finished the night 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI Bounds reached three times off two walks and a hit as he went 1-for-2 with a run Kramer secured the win for pitching a shutout seventh working around two walks but allowing no hits or runs Daniels led Briarwood as he reached in all four of his plate appearances going 2-for-2 with two walks and a home run Spain Park will take its 1-3 record into the PBR South Alabama Showdown from Feb Briarwood is now 1-2 on the year after falling to Springville 3-2 on Valentine’s Day and beating John Carroll Catholic 4-2 on President’s Day While their rematch with John Carroll on Thursday 20 was canceled due to sub-freezing temperatures the Lions will be back in action on Saturday 22 for a doubleheader against Grissom and Gardendale at 1:30 p.m 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 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 After knocking down a pair of early 3-pointers as part of a massive early Lions run 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 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 but one he was hesitant to take the spotlight for and I wouldn’t be able do any of that without them what all they’ve sacrificed for this team Briarwood went on to honor those seniors with a 70-33 win over the Shelby County Wildcats on Thursday 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 Briarwood continued to dominate and went on a 13-0 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 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 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 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 Canale earned six points and Thompson finished with five points Stubbs scored eight points and Robertson ended the night with five points in the win 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 ahead of a battle with Sylacauga on Tuesday 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 ahead of an area clash with Central-Clay County on Tuesday NORTH SHELBY – Briarwood Christian School will have a former MLB All-Star leading the way in developing its athletic programs going forward who brings a wealth of experience from professional and international sports Briarwood named Australian national baseball team and Brisbane Bandits manager David Nilsson as the school’s Head of Athletics on Wednesday Nilsson’s position will be separate from athletic director Chris Heaps who was promoted to his position as AD and head varsity baseball coach on May 3 Nilsson will oversee the development and implementation of athletic programs across all ages at the school “I am excited to have the opportunity to be the Head of Athletics and oversee the athletics program at Briarwood Christian School,” Nilsson said successful program for the Glory of God is something I am passionate about I look forward to working with all the coaches in implementing a structure that will both educate and develop all athletes from K-12 and beyond.” Nilsson spent his entire 13-season career as a catcher for the Milwaukee Brewers He was named a National League All-Star in 1999 and left the club after the season as a free agent to return home and become the captain of the Australian national baseball team Nilsson captained Australia in both the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics and he won a silver medal in the latter games He also appeared in the 2006 World Baseball Classic Nilsson then embarked on a coaching career that included a stop with the Arizona Diamondbacks as the team’s catching coordinator as well as head coaching positions with the MLB Australian Academy the Australian Baseball League’s Brisbane Bandits and the Australian national team He won four straight Australian Baseball League titles with the Bandits as the team’s director of baseball operations and head coach and as national manager and head coach for Australia he led the team to the quarterfinals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic Nilsson had served at the helm of the Bandits since 2014 and Australia since 2018 before coming to Alabama to lead Briarwood athletics “David brings a unique set of skills and experience to Briarwood,” Briarwood Christian School superintendent Gus Martin said “His accomplishments at the highest levels of baseball both in the MLB and as an Olympic silver medalist what sets him apart is his ability to build exceptional athletic systems and structures His hire is a strategic move to advance Briarwood athletics BCS Chief of Operations Jay Matthews also expressed his excitement to see his talent for development and Christ-centered approach lead the Lions athletic department “We are excited to have Dave Nilsson joining our athletics admin team,” Matthews said “His extensive experience in Major League Baseball and his leadership with the Australian Olympic Baseball program will be invaluable for scaling and improving our athletics program His knowledge of sports science technology and strategic development programs for all age groups will surely enhance our initiatives his passion for Christ and all sports will inspire our coaches and athletes.”