On December 13th, the Warriors took on Notre Dame High School, in Chattanooga. In this game, the Warriors took a big win allowing their record to increase to 7-1. The final score was Warriors 67 - Notre Dame 52.
This loss extended Notre Dame's losing streak record at 0-8 for this current 25/26 season.
The Warriors won this game 67-52 with Tucker Pinion(‘27) scoring 20, Cole Sims(‘27) having 11, Mason Steele(‘26) ending with 11, Lukas Smith(‘26) with 10, and Jack Carpenter(‘27) ending off with 9.
Despite Notre Dame's winless record, head coach Eric Mitchell emphasized the importance of staying prepared even for games like these. When asked how he motivated his team, Mitchell said, “We watched some film on them and we knew they were a lot better than their record, they’ve played some really good teams like Baylor and McCallie. I knew they were gonna be good but when you look at their record that puts it in the boys' minds. We came out, played good, then didn't, then played good at the end.”
Senior Mason Steele(‘26), who has been challenged with foul trouble these last few games. Steele had four fouls by the fourth quarter still coming out with 11 points this game. Steele explained why it's so crucial for him to stay out of foul trouble saying, “It’s hard to not get into foul trouble early when you're guarding someone bigger than you cause you have to be physical because if not they will score on you.”
Steele added that finding a good rhythm can make an outstanding difference in his performance. “ If I can get out of foul trouble and get into a rhythm I can average 14 to 15 points a game and help the team a lot more, but stuff's gonna happen you’re gonna have bad games,” he said.
Another senior, point guard Lukas Smith(‘26), was asked how he thinks he stayed motivated to play Notre Dame despite seeing their record where he stressed the fact of having a consistent mindset, saying, “I just take it one game at a time. A team's record doesn’t speak for them.”
The Warriors are looking to have an outstanding season with this being the best start to the season since 2022.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, Mitchell said, “I have no idea how this season will play out. We're going one game at a time.” continuing to say, “We are tickled to death to get to be 7-1 in these past few weeks.”
Going back to senior Mason Steele, who reflected on his return to the Warriors, after missing his junior year season after going homeschooled and deciding to take a year off where he said ,“It feels really good to come back, I took a year off where I realized I wanted to play basketball.”
With this current momentum and strong start, the Warriors look to continue to take it one game at a time traveling to take on Trousdale County in Hartsville before going into Christmas break where they aim to hopefully improve their record from 7-1 to 8-1.
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