Hendersonville High School
December 9, 2000

CHS I Reaches Semi-finals
Team falls to Cookeville I on last toss-up

The CHS Academic Team made the ride up I-65 to Hendersonville High School Saturday morning to compete in the third annual Commando Classic.  Hopes were high as the A-Teamers remembered that their previous trip to the 'ville had resulted in a fourth place finish two years ago.  

Central's second team welcomed senior Sharon Thackston as she competed in her first event of the year but ran into the buzz saw that is Ezell-Harding I in round one and fell 305-115.  The team recovered from that outing to reel off a win over Campbell County I by a score of 210-185 before falling again this time to Oneida by a 285-280 tally.  Undaunted the Lions righted the ship and sailed to back to back wins over Lexington (225-120) and Webb II (290-215).  Team Two was paced in scoring by surprising sophomore Luke Maddux who notched 130 points in his second varsity outing.  Luke was assisted by the steady play of seniors Philip Beck and Sharon Thackston who scored 90 and 80 points respectively.  Junior Jeff Spurlock pitched in 60 points and sophomore shane allen came through with 20.

The first team found the early going a bit easier as they were never seriously threatened in their first three matches.   The first game saw senior Jeremy Wear become the first Central player to surpass the 4,000 point mark in career scoring as he blistered Campbell County III with 90 points leading the team to an easy 305-115 win.  That would be the closest of the first three rounds as Team One continued to pile up the points in wins over Bradley Central II (405-95) and Campbell County IV (335-50).  The Lions then ran into arch nemesis Ezell-Harding II who one month earlier had put an end to Central's playoff run at Cookeville on that match's final toss-up.  The same thing happened again as the Lions saw a fierce match come down to the last toss-up which once again landed in the Ezell column and handed the C-Towners their first loss of the day 260-245.  With a play-off berth on the line, CHS I recovered to put a 405-65 spanking on Campbell County III.  The high point output landed two first teamers, Jeremy wear and Sam Wantland, on the all-tournament team and gained CHS I the tournament's fourth seed heading into the play-offs.  There they faced off against Hillsboro who had won the past three meetings between the two teams but this time the result would be different as Jeremy Wear continued his scoring ways with seven toss-ups and the Lions advanced to a semi-final showdown against Cookeville I with a 315-180 victory.  The semi-final match was close throughout, tied at the end of the first half, after 15 toss-ups and again with one toss-up remaining.  That toss-up just as the one in the Ezell match ended up in the wrong column and Central wound up on the short end of a 285-270 score.  Still the A-Team can take great pride in having hung tough with one of the best teams in the southeast.  Individually, CHS I was paced by Jeremy Wear with 420 points and Sam Wantland with 290.  Sophomore Kathleen Smith proved she belonged on team one with a solid 80 points while senior Emily Senefeld contributed 70 points to the cause.

CHS will enjoy the Christmas break before preparing for the Riverdale competition on January 27th.