Jim Mashek

D.G. SHERRILL RECORDS 400th VICTORY AS BGHS COACH; DRAGONS’ UNSELD REMAINS UPBEAT

D.G. Sherrill made the rounds Tuesday night at Warren Central High School, the home of the Bowling Green Purples’ biggest rival upon the arrival of basketball season every year.

Sherrill, the Princeton, Kentucky native who is in his 29th season as the BGHS boys basketball head coach, directed the Purples to a hard-fought, 52-47 victory over the defending KHSAA state champion Dragons on their opponents’ home court.

Sherrill convened with his coaching staff in the corner of the gym during the girls’ game, Bowling Green’s 54-38 triumph over the Lady Dragons, before retreating to the visitors’ locker room to review his squad’s game plan one last time before taking the floor.

A standing-room-only crowd was on hand, of course, and Bowling Green bolted to a quick 10-1 lead out of the gate. Warren Central made a run of their own, trailing by just three points, 20-17, after the first quarter, and there were plenty of lead changes the rest of the way.

Ultimately, though, Bowling Green’s toughness and rebounding carried the Purples to victory.

Warren Central, which has played a limited schedule to this point, dropped to 6-6 overall and 2-1 in the KHSAA’s 14th District. Sherrill’s Purples, ranked ninth in this week’s Courier-Journal statewide poll, improved to 17-4 overall and 3-0 in district play.

And it was Sherrill’s 400th victory since becoming the Bowling Green coach, a huge milestone for the Purples’ leader. Sherrill will take a 400-115 career record into Friday night’s girls/boys 14th District doubleheader on the road at South Warren High School.

The colorful Sherrill was a bit philosophical — Caldwell County style, mind you — after the Purples snapped Warren Central’s 18-game winning streak against district opponents.

“It doesn’t matter, what show pony Warren Central or Bowling Green bring to the show,” he said. “It’s going to be a dogfight. It’s going to be a great ballgame. You just want to be in it, and give yourself a chance to win in the fourth quarter.”

That’s what the Purples did, no show pony required.

Bowling Green used 6-foot-8 center Mason Ritter’s presence in the paint to build an early lead, and the Purples withstood the Dragons’ scoring duo of Kade Unseld and Drevin Bratton to hold that lead for the bulk of the first three quarters. Warren Central’s Braylon Boards drilled a 3-point field goal from the left corner — his only points of the game — to give the Dragons a 42-38 lead heading into the game’s final eight minutes …

At which point Bowling Green’s defense proved to be the difference.

There were six lead changes and three ties in the fourth quarter, with Bowling Green limiting the Dragons to just five points. Both teams had multiple players with three or four fouls, and neither squad could take control at the free-throw line.

Ultimately, it was Bowling Green junior point guard Deuce Bailey who put the game on ice, hitting two free throws with 21 seconds left in the game. That pushed the BGHS lead to 50-46, and the Purples were on their way back to Rockingham Avenue with the critical victory.

“We just stuck together, as a team, and battled through the adversity,” Bailey said. “We had some guys make some tough plays down the stretch.”

Warren Central star Kade Unseld, who has signed with first-year coach Steve Lutz and Western Kentucky University, is still playing “restricted minutes” because of offseason meniscus surgery. Unseld led the Dragons with 14 points while WCHS teammates Drevin Bratton and Elijah Starks, both transfers from Bowling Green, each finished with 12.

“For our first game, with everyone back, I thought we did decent,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said in a text message Wednesday morning. “It’s gonna take us a couple weeks to hit our stride … We’re a long way away, but I like what we’ve got coming.”

Bowling Green guard Braylon Banks hit the Purples’ first 3-pointer, an open shot from the right wing that put them in front 7-1 in the first quarter. The 6-foot-1 junior led Bowling Green with 19 points, while teammate Mason Ritter finished with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

“We just had to grind it out,” Ritter said. “Offense was hard, defense was hard, we couldn’t take a possession off with these guys … We just have to keep our heads down and play hard.”

Banks said Deuce Bailey’s court presence gives the Purples an edge at the point, and Bailey found Ritter near the basket twice on inbounds plays for field goals in the first half.

“Deuce did a great job creating scoring opportunities for us,” Banks said.

D.G. Sherrill was equally effusive in his assessment of Banks’ performance.

“Braylon was the most consistent player all night,” Sherrill said. “It’s almost better to win a game like this, at this point in time, as opposed to winning by 20 (points) … That’s not going to happen. It doesn’t matter.

“Last year, they were a state championship team, and we took them to overtime twice. (Warren Central) is really good. I don’t want to take anything away from them …

“You know it’s going to be a knuckle-dragging kind of basketball game.”

Warren Central slipped past the Purples, 52-50, in last year’s KHSAA 4th Region championship game at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena. Kade Unseld is the only starter from that team back with the Dragons, but William Unseld has a promising squad with Drevin Bratton, Elijah Starks, Cadin Hammer and Robbie Dye completing his starting five.

“It feels good,” BGHS center Mason Ritter said, “but we could wind up playing them again, two or three times …”

Bowling Green faces South Warren (8-7, 1-2 in 14th District play) on Friday night, while Warren Central plays host to Greenwood (10-10, 0-3).

BOWLING GREEN GIRLS 54, WARREN CENTRAL 38

Upset-minded Warren Central pulled to within 24-19 of the Lady Purples before halftime, but Bowling Green’s girls took control in the third quarter.

The Lady Purples (11-4, 3-0) outscored Warren Central 12-4 in the third quarter, but they remain a work in progress, in the eyes of veteran coach Calvin Head.

“I thought in pockets of the game, we were really good,” Head said. “And then I thought in other pockets of the game we were very stagnant, just very average … I told them we’ve got to get off that rollercoaster.”

BGHS junior forward Katy Smiley, the Lady Purples’ leading scorer, finished with a game-high 16 points.

Smiley hit two of Bowling Green’s three 3-point field goals in the first quarter, when the Lady Purples built a 17-7 lead. BGHS teammates Jasiyah Franklin and NaTaya Wardlow came up with some critical defensive plays after halftime, and Ryleigh Campbell drilled a 3-pointer from the corner to push Bowling Green’s lead back to 10 points in the final three minutes of the third quarter.

Warren Central’s Aida Akhmedova and Jaliyah Bailey both finished with a team-high 11 points, while Briana Frausto added 10.

Warren Central dropped to 3-11 overall and 0-3 in district play.

“At the end of the day, we wanted to improve to 3-0 in district play,” Head said. “We got a little too comfortable at times. We’ve got to figure out a couple more (player) rotations.”