Despite early season struggles, the purple and gold have won three consecutive games, including wins against district foes Signal Mountain and Hixson.

On Monday, January 24, the boys traveled to Chattanooga Preparatory School. The Pounders won this game with a final score of 57-45.  At the end of the first quarter, CPS was up by one point, but the Pounders clawed back and maintained the lead at the close of each of the following quarters. During the game, sophmore Matthew Sharpe scored 24 of the Pounders 57 total points. He scored 8 two’s and 8 free-throws.

The team traveled to Signal Mountain on Friday, January 28. The score was very close throughout the entire game, but the Pounders pulled through, coming out on top 63-61. The Pounders were in the lead at the end of the first quarters by one point, the Eagles took the lead at the end of the second quarter, and they were tied with a score of 44-44 by the end of the third quarter.

The Pounders played host to the Hixson Wildcats here at Central on Tuesday, February 1. The beginning of this game didn’t look too promising for the Pounders, when the Wildcats were scoring back to back and were ahead by 10 points at the end of the 1st quarter, but the Pounders eventually took the lead by the end of the second quarter and stayed in the lead by the end of both the third and fourth quarter. The Pounders won the game with an ending score of 62-57. Junior, DJ Sanderfer scored 12 points by making 6 two-pointers.

The boys traveled to East Hamilton High School on Friday, Febuary 4. The Pounder’s started the game out decent, only being down 2 points at the end of the 1st quarter, but the Hurricanes got stronger leads as the game went on. The Pounders lost with an ending score of 76-58. Senior Reginald Waldley scored 8 points by making 4 two-pointers.

On Tuesday, Febuary 8, the Pounders played Soddy Daisy High School here at Central’s home court. This was another extremely close game, but the Pounders pulled through and won 51-47. The Pounders had already played the Trojans earlier in the season and lost, so this was a great win for the Pounders.

“Soddy was a good and big game for us. Every game we play now is important, as it determines our seating for the postseason. Soddy was a game we needed to win to avoid the play-in game. The guys knew what was on the line, and they went out, performed, and did a great job,” shared Coach Kantonio Davis.

Senior night for the guys was held at Central on Thursday, Febuary 11. This years seniors are Tiawun Bell, Noah Collins, Tongun Gore, Tyler Sanders, and Reginald Wadley. The Pounders hosted for Ooltewah High School. The guys gave it their all throughout the entire game, but unfortunately the Owls took over the lead at the end of the 4th quarter, with the ending score being 71-62.

“I feel as though with it being senior night we struggled to focus and pull through in the end, but now I can honestly look back and say I loved playing with the guys and especially my fellow seniors this year, shared Tongun Gore, who has played basketball for Central for 3 years.

Overall, the Pounders had a great win streak with CPS, Signal Mountain, and Hixson. They lost against East Hamilton and Ooltewah, but also had a great win against Soddy Daisy.

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