By Jeremy Stafford -- Daily Sports Correspondent

WINCHESTER — When Shenandoah trailed Averett by 11 points nine minutes into the first half, it was reminiscent of the Hornets' lopsided 23-point loss to the Cougars in January.

Despite the deficit, though, Shenandoah trailed Averett by only 3 points after two quarters, and overcame the Cougars in the second half to win 66-54 Saturday afternoon at Shingleton Gymnasium.

Shenandoah freshman Brandon Bryan led all scorers with 19 points, a career-best performance.

"I'm feeling good right now," Bryan said after the game. "I just hope I can keep it up and keep winning."

Bryan and Onyie Onunaku, who had 17 points and seven rebounds, kept Shenandoah in the game following the Hornets' slow start. Jeremiah Lawrence, who recorded another double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, was held to only 4 points in the first half.

"Jeremiah was getting doubled all the time, and I was wide open there to relieve the pressure," Bryan said.

Bryan took advantage of Averett's zone defense, shooting 5-for-9 from beyond the 3-point line.

"He's really starting to come into his own, and the guys believe in him," Shenandoah coach Robert Harris Jr. said. "He's really playing with a high level of confidence, and that's what a shooter has to have, is confidence."

Lawrence showed signs of confidence as well, scoring seven hard-fought points in the second half after shooting only 2-for-8 in the first half.

"Ask any coach in the country, 'if your kid had an 11-and-11, would you be happy?'" Harris laughed. "The problem that we have is that we're spoiled. We're used to that 21 and 18 from him."

Averett shot 55 percent from the field in the first half, but trailed Shenandoah in almost every other major category, including steals, turnovers, and offensive rebounds.

"I went into the locker room at halftime and we're down by 3 points — and we didn't play very well," Harris said.

Shenandoah was extraordinary coming into the second half, as Kenny Cooke, aware that Lawrence was being double-teamed, cut to the basket for an uncontested lay-up, jump-starting an 11-1 run that put Shenandoah ahead of Averett by 7.

Cooke had 7 points in the game.

The gym immediately fell silent, though, when Onunaku aggravated his LCL while coming down from a fast-break lay-up.

"I was supposed to be wearing a brace today, but I didn't really feel comfortable with it. I couldn't really move," Onunaku said.

Averett sent cutters to the basket throughout the second half, but Shenandoah did a masterful job of cutting off passing lanes and contesting low-post shots.

"What we had to do is make sure we took away some cutters, make sure we played solid on certain pick-and-roll penetrations, and we did a good job of that in the second half," Harris said.

Brandon Malone scored 16 points for Averett, and Jonathan Rumley contributed 10 points for the Cougars.

With the win, Shenandoah improved to 5-4 in the USA South Conference, good enough to bump the Hornets to third place in the conference standings. Their next two games are against Ferrum and Methodist, the second- and first-place teams in the conference, respectively.

Aware that his team is only one game out of first place, Harris smiled.

"We just take it one game at a time," he said.

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