CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – District play is often referred to as a brand-new season for teams, as it’s the only thing that dictates postseason seeding. For the Montgomery Central Indians, they kicked off the “new season” with a 44-41 over the Sycamore War Eagles.
The Indians are built around their defense, which has been their identity all year. In the first half, they played well defensively, but just couldn’t get shots to fall. They were down 15-27 at half, and things weren’t looking great. Head Coach Mike Brown said they just needed a change in pace.
“We started to try to score more on the break.” Brown said. “We were just walking it up (the court), and we needed to start attacking the basket more.”
Then, in the second half, the energy shifted, and the Indians came out of the locker room with purpose. Defensively, they were challenging every bucket, playing with intensity, and were able to create fast break opportunities off of it. Led by some great defensive play of forward Chris Foy, by the end of the 3rd quarter, they had cut the Sycamore lead to only three points.
In the end, the Indians pulled away late thanks to some clutch shooting from Drew Yarbrough, who led the game with 21 points. With the victory, Montgomery Central boys’ basketball move to 8-9 on the 2023-24 season.
Montgomery Central top scorers: Drew Yarbrough – 21 points; Chris Foy – 18 points; Gio Harris – 3 points; Malik Peterson – 2 points.
MCHS girls’ basketball fall to Sycamore
The Montgomery Central Lady Indians are a young squad with a lot of fight; however, they ran into a Sycamore squad who was riding some serious momentum and ended up losing their game by a score of 69-12.
Sycamore was led by Chatanooga signee Izzy McPherson, who helped build the War Eagles to a large lead, and they went on to never relinquish it.
After the game, Montgomery Central head coach Bill Youngquist praised Sycamore for the team they put together. He told Clarksville Now that you have to give the team credit where it’s due.
As the young Montgomery Central squad continues to grow and progress, Youngquist says the team needs to focus on limiting turnovers throughout games. He believes if they hold on to the ball and shoot the ball better, they’ll be just fine in the end.
Montgomery Central top scorers: Alivia South – 4 points; Kat Vidocic – 4 points; Sydney Batson – 2 points; Kate Yarbrough 2 points.