The Central Chargers are riding a 13-game win streak, and all wins in that span have come by double-digits except for one. They’re playing on a mission for the program’s first-ever title, applying lessons learned from last season when they advanced to the 3A quarterfinals.
The Chargers (15-1, 5-0 in Region 2) host Spencer (8-6, 4-1) on Tuesday. It’s their first game since moving up a spot in the rankings to No. 2, and after capping off a 3-0 week at home against Jordan with an 80-30 win Friday.
Chargers coach Tamara Bolston-Williams said the team’s returning players, led by juniors Alaya Grane, Taliah Grier and Tayelor Davis, gained crucial experience last season when they finished 23-6, second in Region 2-3A, and reached the Elite 8 for just the second time. That’s the furthest the program has been, according to Georgia High School Basketball Project.
It was a remarkable turnaround from the 2020-21 season, when the Chargers finished 8-19. They began the 2022 playoffs as a No. 2 seed and first beat Burke County 55-40, then Ringgold 44-28. In the third round, Pierce County ended their season with a 56-34 win.
“What’s been a huge part of our success is bringing back players from last year,” Bolston-Williams said. “Once we played Pierce County, it showed how far we have to go and how hard we have to work. Some of the girls hadn’t experienced a game like that before. Pierce County had eight seniors. (The returning Chargers players) knew they had to get back to work in the gym, because they didn’t want that feeling anymore. They did a lot of offseason work. They went to camps. A lot of them play AAU together.”
“They worked hard to build that team chemistry, and that’s been one of the aspects that’s kind of working for us. They’re playing with more discipline in a lot of areas, and they’re vigilant about correcting the small things. They’re close off the court, too. They do a lot together, and that’s helped us as a team.”
Their current streak began Nov. 29 with a 39-38 win over Bolston-Williams’ alma mater, 4A’s No. 6 Baldwin. All box scores since have been lopsided and in the Chargers’ favor, most notably in a 59-2 win over Kendrick on Dec. 6. On Dec. 19, they beat No. 8 Dodge County 66-54 in a cross-region matchup.
The Chargers began the season with four ranked opponents from higher classifications and went 3-1. In their opener on Nov. 19, they beat 5A’s No. 7 Jones County 44-41. Three days later, they beat 6A’s No. 7 Veterans 38-34.
Their only loss came to 4A’s top-ranked Griffin, which beat them 56-40 on Nov. 25.
“That was a huge eye opener,” Bolston-Williams said. “We lost that game in the fourth quarter. We were down by (seven) going into the fourth. It was the day after Thanksgiving, and we didn’t have a good practice the day before because some people were out of town. We weren’t fully prepared. We just looked like Thanksgiving out there, to be honest. Not to take anything away from Griffin, they were the better team. Any time you have the opportunity to play Griffin, it’s going to help us on and off the court, with how we face challenges and adversity.”
Though the Chargers have deep playoff run experience, they’re still mostly young with one senior, seven juniors, four sophomores and a freshman. Grane leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points, adding 3.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.5 steals. Grier averages 13.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, three assists and 2.4 steals, and Davis averages 9.6 rebounds along with 7.4 points and two steals.
Given how the Chargers have been playing lately, they might not lose another regular season game, nine of which remain. They’ll play rematches against Rutland, Kendrick, Northeast, ACE and Jordan, none of which came any closer than 23 points the first time they played. They’ll also play Spencer, Southwest (5-8, 1-3) and Northeast (8-5, 4-1) twice.
Then it’s onto the postseason, where the goal is a championship. Bolston-Williams came close as a player with Baldwin, reaching the 4A championship in 2000, and she believes this team has the potential to make that type of run.
“The sky is the limit,” she said. “I don’t want to put a limit on the team as far as potential. Every team has to put their shoes on one foot at a time and go out and play, and it’s always going to come down to who wants it the worst in the moment. There’s still a lot of basketball to be played, and at the moment we’ll do whatever it is we need to do.”
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