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The Drew Central Pirates have moved into second place in the 8-3A Conference rankings with two games remaining in the regular season.
The Pirates have won three consecutive contests including wins over conference leading Dumas and at home against the McGehee Owls.
The Pirates and Helena have the same conference record of 7-3 with the Pirates and Cougars splitting their regular season contests.
The Pirates would get their first win in the three game run on Tuesday, January 28, at home hosting the Rison Wildcats.
The Pirates would score in double-digits in every quarter of the game, outscoring Rison 18-16 in the first, 19-15 in the second, 13-7 in the third, and 23-6 in the fourth for the 73-44 win.
Blake Chandler would lead the way on the scoreboard with 23 points followed by Zae Bullard with 16 and Jeremiah Bodiford with 11.
Alex Preddy added nine, Uriah Rhodes and Tra’Bennett Fuller with six, and Torian Struggs with two.
The Pirates would face conference leading Dumas on Tuesday, February 4, travelling to Dumas to face the Bobcats.
Drew Central would hold the Bobcats to four points in the first quarter, outscoring Dumas 13-4 in the quarter.
The Pirate defense would remain in control of the contest in the second quarter, holding the Bobcats to seven points, outscing Dumas 15-7 in the quarter to lead 28-11 at the half.
Dumas would take the third quarter 8-7 but the Pirates would take the fourth 14-9 for the 49-28 win.
Chandler would lead the way with 21 points followed by Fuller with 11.
Zae Bullard and Alex Preddy each scored seven with Jeremiah Bodiford adding three.
Returning home on Friday, February 7, to host the McGehee Owls, the Pirates would fall behind in the first quarter with McGehee taking a 14-8 lead.
Drew Central would come back in the second quarter to outscore McGehee 19-13 to tie the contest at 27 behind Blake Chandler’s 10 points in the quarter.
Drew Central would remain in control for the remainder of the contest, outscoring the Owls 14--8 in the third and 11-6 in the fourth to take the 52-41 victory.
Blake Chandler would lead the way with 31 points followed by Tra’Bennett Fuller with 13.
Jeremiah Bodiford added three with Alex Preddy and Torian Suggs with two.
Heading into the final Two regular season contests, Chandler has scored a total of 328 points on the season including two contests where he scored 30 plus points.
The Pirates will travel to Lakeside to face the Beavers in their next contest.
Drew Central defeated Lakeside by 10 points, 70-60, back on January 17, at home.
In their final regular season contest, the Drew Central Pirates and Lady Pirates will honor the 2025 Senior athletes on Senior NIght to the Drew Central Gymnasium.
The PIrates will host the DeWitt Dragons for their final contest in contests that will determine the final seeding for the 8-3A District Tournament that will begin next week with the schedule to be announced.
The PIrates were successful on the road against DeWitt on January 21 with a three point, 59-56 win.
Gametime begins at 6 pm on Thursday, February 13, at Drew Central Gymnasium.
