Holiday basketball tournament update
Several local high school basketball teams are participating and/or hosting holiday tournaments this week.
The Briarwood Christian School boys basketball team took a trip to Disney and played in the KSA Events Pre-Holiday Classic this week in Orlando. The Lions went 1-2 on the week, winning on Monday but falling in the Tuesday and Wednesday games.
Briarwood knocked off Lowell (CA), 54-45 to advance to the tournament semifinals. The Lions fell to a strong St. Mary's (MA) team, 50-37, on Tuesday, to set up Wednesday's matchup with Montclair Kimberley Academy (NJ).
In that game, the Lions jumped out to a 25-17 halftime lead, before Montclair stormed back in the third quarter. The teams went back and forth before Michael Hiers scored to tie the game and send it past regulation. In overtime, however, Montclair hit two late free throws to win the game, 56-54.
The Oak Mountain boys team is hosting the Zaxby's Invitational this week, and has advanced to the finals via a pair of wins. The Eagles opened the eight-team tournament with a 51-46 win over Carver-Birmingham. Will Stephenson led the charge with 17 points, joined by Chris Mayweather's 16 points and eight rebounds.
On Wednesday, the Eagles knocked off Scottsboro, 68-60, behind 13 points from Stephenson and 10 points and six rebounds from Josh Pierce. Oak Mountain will face Grissom in the championship at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Oak Mountain's girls are competing in the Big Orange Classic at Hoover High School, with the first two days of the tournament consisting of pool play. The Lady Eagles played both of their pool games on Wednesday, losing to Charles Henderson, 47-31, before rallying to beat Oxford (MS), 41-30, to go 1-1 in the pool portion.
Bracket play is set to begin at Hoover High School on Thursday morning, as Oak Mountain faces Carver-Birmingham at 9:30 a.m.
Spain Park's Lady Jag Christmas Tournament got underway on Wednesday, with 16 teams battling it out. Spain Park wrapped up the day with a 54-26 victory over McAdory and will play J.B. Pennington in the semifinals Thursday at 6 p.m.