AND HIS SQUAD LEAVE THE FLOOR AFTER
THE DRAGONS’ 58-44 LOSS TO BARREN COUNTY.
BOWLING GREEN OPENS KHSAA 4th REGION PLAY AGAINST SCOTTIES; DRAGONS’ UNSELD DISSECTS HIS TEAM’s DEFEAT
Barren County High School’s boys basketball team needed a little time to find itself, and Warren Cunningham, the Trojans’ thoughtful, understated head coach, seems to understand why.
Barren County lost five of its first six games in December, when football players such as Tate Spillman, Brey Brewley and Gavin Nunn were getting their legs under them, making the transition from popping pads to popping 3-pointers from the perimeter.
In football, the Trojans struck for their first postseason victory since 1992, but they were far from content with that breakthrough. Barren County reached the KHSAA Class 6A quarterfinals before bowing out in a 59-14 loss to Great Crossing.
Cunningham made note of that on Monday night, after his disciplined, driven basketball team bounced KHSAA basketball kingpin Warren Central High School, a team that clearly knows the way to Lexington’s Rupp Arena for the Sweet 16.
It just won’t happen this year.
Barren County 58, Warren Central 44.
LED ALL SCORERS WITH 17 POINTS.
LOOKS FOR A TEAMMATE ON THE PERIMETER.
AGAINST THE DRAGONS’ ROBERT ‘ANT’ McAFEE.
“It’s just the way things worked out,” Cunningham said when it was over. “We had a long football season, and it just took us awhile to settle in.”
That was plainly obvious Monday night. The Trojans advanced to next week’s semifinals against Clinton County, which rolled past Logan County, 87-64, in the second quarterfinal at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena.
It’s been Warren Central’s proving ground over the last few seasons, including last year’s 64-57 victory over archrival Bowling Green High School in the KHSAA 4th Region championship game.
The Trojans executed Cunningham’s offense to perfection, moving the ball and drilling open 3-pointers to build an early lead over the Dragons. Warren Central tried to scramble back into it, time and again, but the Trojans never flinched.
Barren County improved to 20-12 on the season, while the Dragons finished at 23-7 overall.
And Warren Central coach William Unseld covered all of that, meeting with his team for about 90 minutes in the locker room normally used by the WKU women’s golf team.
FOULED OUT IN THE FOURTH QUARTER.
LED THE DRAGONS WITH 12 POINTS.
TO GEORGETOWN COLLEGE IN THE FALL.
A CRITICAL FACTOR IN THE OUTCOME.
“We didn’t handle the expectations very well,” Unseld said. “I think a lot of the guys figured, ‘We’ll put on the Warren Central jerseys, and it was just gonna happen.’
“We only had one kid, Dominique Anthony, play significant minutes in last year’s regional tournament. In the third quarter, we had the ball, down by four (points), and we turned it over … We were down, eight, 10 points before we knew it.
“You have to give credit to Barren County. (Senior guard Tate) Spillman had a helluva game. Their big man off the bench, (Gavin) Nunn, played very well. We just weren’t tough enough. Great kids, great to work with. It was like we were running in quicksand out there.”
The Trojans encountered no such obstacle.
NEVER TRAILED AGAINST THE DRAGONS.
LOOKS FOR A TEAMMATE INSIDE …
ON THE DEFENSIVE END
FOR THE TROJANS.
IS FLANKED BY TROJANS TEAMMATES
TATE SPILLMAN (LEFT) AND BREY BEWLEY.
Barren County hit four of six shots from 3-point range in the first quarter, building a 16-5 lead. Warren Central used a trapping, half-court press to pull within five points, at 20-15, on senior forward Robert “Ant” McAfee’s tough baseline shot with about three minutes left in the first half.
Barren County’s Brey Bewley scored on a drive to the basket, and Trojans teammate Kade Hardy followed with an open 3-pointer from the top of the key. Barren County took a 27-19 lead into the break, and the Dragons stayed within striking distance for the entire third quarter.
They just couldn’t put themselves over the top.
Barren County never trailed in eliminating Warren Central before a packed house at Diddle, and the Trojans made sure they’d be playing well into March.
“We trusted in Coach Cunningham,” BCHS senior guard Tate Spillman said. “We came out early, ready to play, and hit some shots, which helped us down the stretch.”
DOMINATED ON THE BOARDS.
HIT JUST 4 OF 18 3-POINT FIELD GOALS.
SPLITS TWO DRAGON DEFENDERS.
Seven of Barren County’s players competed in football in the fall, including Spellman, a quarterback and an exceptional ballhandler in the Trojans’ Wing-T attack.
The others included Brey Bewley (wide receiver/point guard), Gavin Nunn (defensive end/forward), Waylon Clemmons (linebacker/swingman), Briggs Harris (slot receiver/guard) and Weston Shelton (wide receiver/guard).
“We had a great week of preparation,” BCHS coach Warren Cunningham said, “and I thought we were really focused. We had as good of a week of practice as we’ve had all year. We got some rest and we got some practice time in.
“It gave us some time to gather ourselves and get ready to go.”
The Trojans finished with a 34-22 rebounding advantage while shooting 44 percent from the floor. They also hit 17 of 24 free throws, while Warren Central struggled at the line, sinking six of 12 foul shots.
Warren Central coach William Unseld used rangy 6-foot-7 forward Robert “Ant” McAfee, among others, to defend against the Trojans’ Tate Spillman in the backcourt.
Nothing seemed to work.
“We have great respect for Warren Central,” Cunningham said. “They’ve won a lot of games here. We just said, all week, that sooner or later, somebody was going to beat these guys …
“Why not us? I thought we had the team to do it.”
The Trojans’ pep band continued belting out “Anchors Aweigh,” the Naval Academy’s signature tune, and the Dragons were left in its wake.
Spillman led the Trojans with a game-high 17 points, three rebounds and four assists, while junior forward Kade Hardy added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists. Gavin Nunn, Barren County’s big man off the bench, hit all three of his field-goal attempts and had nine points and four rebounds in less than nine minutes on the floor.
“One guy makes a shot, and then somebody else does,” Spillman said. “It’s contagious …”
The Dragons struggled with shot selection in the second half, throwing up some ill-advised 3-pointers when attacking the basket might have been the better option. McAfee, the slender senior headed to Louisville’s Bellarmine University on a basketball scholarship, led his team with 12 points while WCHS teammate Kauran Johnson added 10.
“We just weren’t tough enough, as a team, this year,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “We missed layup after layup, and when a team like Barren County is hitting shots, you’ve got a problem.
“At some point, you’re going to lose a game like this.”
EARNED ITS 29th WIN AGAINST TWO DEFEATS.
CLINTON COUNTY 87, LOGAN COUNTY 64
The Bulldogs outscored Logan County in the paint, 36-20, while hitting 13 of 21 shots from 3-point range.
That’s 62 percent, in case you were wondering.
From downtown.
HAD 19 POINTS AND 12 REBOUNDS.
62 PERCENT FROM THE FIELD.
Clinton County, the team with the 4th Region’s highest RPI, improved to 29-2 on the season. The Bulldogs won for the eighth time in nine games, and they look to be a confident squad heading into next Monday’s semifinal against Barren County.
Four Clinton County players finished in double figures. Junior guard William Beaty led the Bulldogs with 21 points, while senior forward Nick Poore finished with 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Clinton County’s Cannon Young had 18 points, and teammate Jaxson Mason tallied 14 points to go with his seven rebounds.
Logan County finishes its season with a 19-12 record. Senior forward Samson Hightower led the Cougars with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, while teammate Nicholas Thomas finished the game with 15 points.
THE 4th REGION SEMIFINALS.
TOURNAMENT RESUMES TUESDAY NIGHT
The 4th Region Tournament resumes with two quarterfinal games at Diddle Arena on Tuesday night.
In the opening game, Franklin-Simpson (11-13) faces Russell County (17-11), followed by KHSAA 14th District champion Bowling Green (25-6) taking the floor against the Glasgow Scotties (5-22).
Glasgow reached the 15th District championship game with a 74-68 overtime victory over Warren East. They were relegated to runner-up status with a 66-53 loss to crosstown rival Barren County.
Senior guard Josiah Driver (11.6 ppg) and sophomore guard Jaylen Bradley (10.5 ppg) are averaging in double figures for the Scotties.
Bowling Green avenged two regular-season losses to Warren Central in the KHSAA 14th District championship game, when senior guard Braylon Banks hit a clutch 3-pointer from the left wing to topple the Dragons, 62-59.
Bowling Green is looking for its first trip to the KHSAA Sweet 16 since the 2020-21 season.
