Boys Basketball may have had a short break, but the Pounders did not let that phase them in the Chick-Fil-A Classic. The annual Winter break tourament began on December 28 at Gordon Lee High School. During the tournament, Central brought home the W in two out of three games.

“The guys went out and played hard. They’re getting a lot better at executing and working hard on completing plays,” shared Coach Kantonio Davis

The boys were set to face off against Chattanooga Preparatory School on Thursday, January 6; however this game was cancelled due to inclement weather.

On Friday, January 7, the Pounders went on the road to duke it out with the Hixson Wildcats. The team came up short against the Wildcats with a final score of 70-50. Sophmore Drew Williams was the Pounders leading scorer. He scored 14 points, with three 2-pointers, two 3-pointers and two free throws.

“We haven’t been playing the best, but every game and practice we get one step closer to figuring us out. All we can do is play our game and listen to Coach,” stated Williams.

On Tuesday, January 11, the boys stayed at home and played against East Hamilton. Unfortunately, the boys got beat by the ‘Canes 69-34. Freshman Ronye Watson scored a total of eight points was Central’s leading scorer during the district defeat.

The team traveled to Soddy Daisy on Friday, January 14. The boys lost against the Trojans with a final score of 52-31. The Pounders were down at the conclusion of each quarter and simply could not catch up to the Trojans offensive attack.

The Pounders played on their home court against the Red Bank Lions on Tuesday, January 18. Unfortunately, they lost this game with a score of  61-50. During the game, sophmore Matthew Sharpe tallied 16 points consisting of with three 2-pointers, three 3-pointers, and one free throw.

“I feel like overall, the Red Bank game was a big improvement for me compared to the last three games. The team played decent up to the last minute, and we had some turnovers that definitely cost us,” shared Sharpe.

The Pounders stayed at home on Friday, January 21 and played the East Ridge Pioneers. This was an extremely close game, but they lost with a final score of 58-54. The Pounders were ahead of the Pioneers at the end of both the first and third quarter, but couldn’t pull through in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, this was a rough couple of games for the Pounders, but they will continue to work hard and try their best at every practice and every game.

Readers can view the latest sports updates on the sports center page. This is where schedules, scores, and rosters will be posted. Boys Basketball will be updated frequently with scores, updates, and more, so be sure to check back up on Boys Basketball here at the Central Digest.