Jim Mashek

BGHS LOOMS AS FAVORITE IN 4th REGION TOURNAMENT; WARREN CENTRAL COULD GET ANOTHER SHOT

Bowling Green High School’s boys basketball team has answered one challenge after another.

The KHSAA 14th District Tournament championship game will certainly qualify.

Bowling Green put Warren Central in a quick 9-0 hole and the Dragons could never escape, as the Purples rolled to a resounding 78-54 victory on Friday evening in the 14th title contest at South Warren High School.

“I’m proud of this group,” veteran BGHS coach D.G. Sherrill said. “They’ve worked very hard. They’ve earned everything they’ve gotten … We gave ourselves a little bit of a cushion, early. It’s definitely easier to ‘play from ahead’ in a game like this.”

Bowling Green improved to 27-5 overall while winning for the 20th time in its last 21 games. Warren Central, the defending KHSAA Sweet 16 state champion, could get another shot at the Purples. Both teams will advance to the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament, beginning Tuesday at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena. The eight teams that have qualified for regional play will have a draw and will learn of their first-round opponents on Saturday morning at Warren East High School.

Junior BGHS guard Braylon Banks had a hot hand and Deuce Bailey, the Purples’ football/basketball star, came up with some highlight-reel plays as Bowling Green took control quickly against the Dragons.

Banks led the Purples with 21 points, while Bailey finished with 17. The two seniors in the BGHS starting lineup, guard M.J. Wardlow and 6-foot-8 center Mason Ritter, added 14 and 11 points, respectively.

“Their guards are really good,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said.

Warren Central needed four victories over the Purples, two in regular-season play and two more in the postseason, to reach the Sweet 16 last season. Bowling Green is 3-0 against the Dragons but the Purples realize they may not have seen the last of them.

“If we can just stay consistent, and play our game, we have a chance to make it to state,” Ritter said.

Unseld said the Dragons allowed Bowling Green to set the pace for the game, getting the ball up and down the court to give its guards a chance to make plays in the perimeter.

“We had a chance to get (the deficit) under 10 in the second quarter a couple times,” Unseld said. “We did a terrible job of getting back on defense in the second half.”

Deuce Bailey opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from the left wing, and the Purples would extend their early lead to 6-0 on a three-point play from Mason Ritter. Bowling Green’s M.J. Wardlow hit a 3 to make it 9-0 before the Dragons could get on the scoreboard, with 6-foot-7 senior forward Elijah Starks hitting an open 3-pointer.

Bowling Green only led 35-24 at halftime, but the Purples steadily pulled away in the third quarter, extending the margin to 45-26 on Bailey’s spinning layup midway through the quarter.

“We had a lot of guys contribute,” BGHS coach D.G. Sherrill said. “It’s all about hitting shots. We can play different, (defensively) when Mason’s in there … I keep telling everyone I think we’ve got as good a group of guards as any team in the state.”

Sherrill could substitute freely in the second half, with a big lead, and the Purples never let up in claiming their first district tournament title since 2021.

“We knew we had to be the aggressor,” Bowling Green guard M.J. Wardlow said. “The score says it all.”

Junior BGHS guard Jace Wardlow, only 11 months younger than M.J., had eight points in the game. Kade Unseld led the Dragons with 13 points and teammate Elijah Starks, a transfer from Bowling Green, finished with 12.

“We didn’t make the entry pass well enough tonight,” William Unseld said in the Dragons’ locker room when it was over. “I hope we get a chance to play them again (in the 4th Region Tournament) … that’ll mean we’re in the championship game.”