Central’s Purple Pounders knew they would have to get off to a good start Tuesday to have any chance of winning their District 6-AA high school basketball game at Brainerd. But even that didn’t help.
It took a while before Brainerd turned up the defensive pressure, but the Panthers eventually did and won 60-49.
Central led 9-3 with the game’s first points coming on Dewuan Swafford’s 3-pointer, the first of seven for the Pounders.
But Brainerd (4-2, 1-0) closed the first quarter on a 14-3 run, which included 3s by Demetrius Kitchens and Tshombe High. The Panthers countered with six 3s overall.
“I saw a lot of good things,” Brainerd coach Robert High said. “We shoot it pretty well. Our problem is we’re really low in numbers. I actually don’t have but seven varsity people right now. We just need to get healthy.”