BRADY – The Brownwood Lions split their first two games at the Brady basketball tournament Thursday, ending the day with a 56-54 victory over the Abilene High JV after falling to Llano, 54-40.

In the win over the Abilene High JV, the Lions led 16-5 after one quarter, 30-19 at halftime, and 47-45 through three periods.

Casey Friebel and Ross Strasner paced the Lions with 11 points each trailed by Ike Hall with eight, Weston Wolf, Hayden Noe, Morsello Hooker with six apiece, Aaron Edmonds with four, Carson Noe with three, and Austin Pittman with one point.

In the loss to Llano, the Lions trailed 17-9 after one quarter, 32-25 at halftime, and 48-32 heading into the fourth period.

Friebel scored 20 points for Brownwood followed by 10 from Carson Noe, four from Hooker, three from Pittman, two from Hall, and one point from Quinten McCarty.

The Lions (4-8) face Blanco at 1 p.m. Friday and Grape Creek at 7 p.m. Friday, and wrap up tournament action Saturday with a seeding game.