You can mark another win for Central’s girls basketball team as they beat the East Ridge Pioneers, 53-34.  With this victory, the ladies remain undefeated in district play and hang onto first in the district. Senior guard Sandrea Sylman led the team in scoring and rebounding, scoring 22 points and shooting 7 rebounds.

“Without Sandrea, there is no first place,” commented Coach Rick May about Sylman and her performance against East Ridge.

This is Central’s second win over East Ridge this season. In their last meeting, Central won 48-24. The Pioneers again struggled to score points and slow down Sylman.

“She really  is the true team leader,” Coach May further stated.

Other noticeable players include junior shooting guard Rebekah Hill and senior D’Aria Kelly – both scored six points and shot six rebounds.

“The key to winning the game was good, hard defense and keeping pressure on the ball,” said Hill, who also had three steals against East Ridge.

There is still a whole lot of basketball to be played – seven regular season games have yet to be played from now until the district tournament. The girls go to Brainerd High School on Friday, January 16, which is a major complication in this year’s district regular season title. Brainerd is two games behind the Lady Pounders now, but the Panthers know how to pull off an upset as they did last year against the Pounders in the district championship game last year. Central is looking to win the regular season title two years in a row and get the first seed in the tournament again.