LED THE DRAGONS WITH 18 POINTS.
No. 1-RANKED WARREN CENTRAL TAKES 20-GAME WINNING STREAK INTO 4th REGION TOURNAMENT
This just in:
The Warren Central High School boys basketball team is really, really good.
I’m not sure what the ceiling is, for these guys. They’ve been dominant for much of the 2022-23 season, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more impressive performance than what we saw in Friday night’s 75-56 victory over crosstown rival Bowling Green High School in the KHSAA 14th District Tournament championship game at Greenwood.
The Dragons have won 20 straight games, and they’ve seldom been challenged since their 60-43 loss to Madison Central in a holiday tournament on December 27 in Lexington.
NEVER TRAILED IN FRIDAY’s CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
Warren Central never trailed in dismantling the Purples, who could never pull within single digits of the Dragons in a highlight-filled second half. The Dragons improved to 29-1 overall, including three victories over BGHS, while the Purples fell to 24-8.
Both teams will advance to the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament starting Wednesday at WKU’s E.A. DIddle Arena. The draw for the eight-team tournament will be held on Saturday at 9 a.m. at Warren East High School.
(Speaking of Warren East, it was an historical night on Louisville Road. The Raiders claimed the school’s first district championship since 1989 with a hard-fought, 56-55 victory over Barren County at Warren East. The Raiders are 19-9 overall, while Barren County checks in at 20-11.)
WATCHES THE DRAGONS’ DEFENSE
AGAINST THE PURPLES’ M.J. WARDLOW.
Warren Central used a balanced scoring attack and an inspired defensive effort to defeat Bowling Green for the third time this season. Unlike their second game, an overtime thriller at the Dragons’ lair, the Purples couldn’t generate the offensive pressure to move into striking distance. Warren Central won that game 75-67 in overtime, on February 3, and there’s obviously a chance they could play again for a Region 4 title and berth in the KHSAA’s Sweet 16 next weekend.
That’s what happened last year, when Warren Central defeated the Purples 58-50 on March 3, 2022, in the 4th Region championship game. The Dragons went on to reach the Sweet 16 title tilt before falling to George Rogers Clark, 43-42, in a defensive-minded title game.
DEFENDS INSIDE AGAINST
BOWLING GREEN’s DEUCE BAILEY.
“We’re starting to play our best basketball, all year,” WCHS coach William Unseld said. “We’ve been really good, but we are really starting to play our best basketball. Omari Glover is playing well and the rest of the kids are starting to figure it out.
“We are playing the best, defensively, that we have all year.”
The Dragons are deep, athletic and motivated, as junior forward Kade Unseld — the son of the longtime Dragons coach — put it afterward. Warren Central had a logistical disadvantage, playing its final two games in a span of six hours or so — as compared to nine hours, for George Rogers Clark — in the action-packed final day of the tournament at Lexington’s Rupp Arena.
LOOKS FOR A PATH TO THE BASKET.
“It drives us, every day,” Kade Unseld said.
Bowling Green, which made its last Sweet 16 appearance in 2021, fell behind quickly on Friday night. The Purples trimmed their deficit to 10 points on a couple occasions in the second half, against the Dragons, but Warren Central remained engaged, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.
“We’re going to have to get back to the drawing board,” BGHS coach D.G. Sherrill said. “We’ve got a younger team … These kinds of games are great experience for our team.
“Our guard play was good, all night. (Junior BGHS center) Mason Ritter was amazing … They hit a lot of shots early, and we had to play catch-up against a really good team.”
Kade Unseld led the Dragons with 18 points, while 4th Region Player of the Year Chappelle Whitney finished with 17. Football/basketball star Omari Glover had 16 points while teammate Damarion Walkup added 11.
LETS IT FLY FROM 3-POINT LAND.
Ritter led the Purples with 15 points, while junior guard M.J. Wardlow added 14 and sophomore guard Deuce Bailey finished with 13.
I’ll have a complete report on the game on Saturday morning, before I boogie on over to Warren East for the draw for the 4th Region tourney.
There figures to be plenty of intrigue on that front, before and after.
Thanks for reading. 2/23/2023
IS THE KHSAA 4TH REGION PLAYER OF THE YEAR.
LOOKS FOR A PATH TO THE BASKET.