Jim Mashek

WARREN CENTRAL POINT GUARD UNDERSTANDS ROLE WITH No. 1-RANKED DRAGONS

Izayiah Villafuerte stood there, at the free-throw line at Rupp Arena, the crowd of more than 8,000 cheering the final moments of the KHSAA Boys Sweet Sixteen championship game.

It was March 19, 2022, on the Kentucky Wildcats’ home floor. There were 3.2 seconds left in the title tilt. Villafuerte’s Warren Central High School squad trailed George Rogers Clark, 43-41, and Villafuerte was fouled, giving the Dragons a shot at tying the score.

Sending the game into overtime.

Villafuerte, then a 5-foot-11, 150-pound WCHS junior, drilled the first free throw. Swish. Then, as he anticipated, George Rogers Clark coach Josh Clark called a timeout. Villafuerte stayed at the free-throw line, as his Warren Central teammates milled about. He looked at the goal, dribbled the ball two or three times, and put up the free throw …

It rolled off the rim.

George Rogers Clark killed the clock, grabbing a pulsating 43-42 victory over Villafuerte and the Dragons. Warren Central went 29-4, winning KHSAA 14th District and 4th Region championships on their way to Lexington.

And they’re back.

In the KHSAA Sweet Sixteen. In Lexington. Getting ready for Wednesday evening’s first-round game against Pulaski County. But this time, as the Commonwealth’s No. 1-ranked team. This time, Villafuerte and the Dragons are the odds-on favorite, but this is a moment veteran Warren Central coach William Unseld seems to have anticipated.

Just like Villafuerte and the other five Warren Central seniors.

They include:

**** KHSAA 4th Region Player of the Year, 6-foot-5 forward Chappelle Whitney;

**** Football/basketball star Omari Glover, perhaps the Dragons’ most versatile player;

**** Damarion Walkup, the 6-foot-4 dynamo who often guards the opponents’ tallest player;

**** And key WCHS reserves Malik Jefferson and Tayvion Wells, valuable defenders on the perimeter and in the open court.

“This is our last go-around for our six seniors,” Unseld said. “They’re going to take everybody’s best shot …”

That’s what Izayiah Villafuerte anticipates, too, when the Dragons (32-1) square off with Pulaski County (26-9) at 6 p.m. EDT at Rupp Arena. No one has to tell Villafuerte how last year’s championship game ended, and he believes it has strengthened Warren Central for this year’s title run.

And Villafuerte, as the Dragons’ seasoned, sturdy point guard, is the guy to take them there.

He doesn’t run from last year’s near miss. Not one bit. He’s used it for fuel to get the Dragons back to the Sweet Sixteen.

“I think about it all the time,” Villafuerte told me early Monday morning at the new Chick-Fil-A restaurant on Campbell Road. “I can’t help it … I’ve looked at it, over and over again …

“The first one went right through. Swish. I anticipated the timeout … It rolled around, and out. A little to the left, or a little to the right, it goes in. We probably go to overtime.

“I really think it’s made me the player I am today.”

Villafuerte is the “heart and soul of this basketball team,” in William Unseld’s estimation, in large part because he embraces his role as the Dragons’ point guard.

Izayiah Villafuerte runs the Warren Central offense. He’s a facilitator. A distributor. Defensively, he’s often at the top of the key. He goes with the opponent’s point guard. He’s a little undersized, at 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, but he’s as tough as they come.

“My teammates, my coaches, they push me, they push me to be the point guard I want to be,” Villafuerte said. “Coach Un (Unseld), we know he always has our back. At the end of the day, he wants us to know it’s about more than just basketball.

“It’s about our development, overall. As students, as basketball players, in the community. He really cares about us. He’s getting us ready to be men. You see it, every day.”

Villafuerte averages 9.5 points per game, while leading the Dragons in assists. He shoots 50 percent from the field, and an equally impressive 41 percent from 3-point range. He leads the team in free-throw percentage, having hit 29 of 35 foul shots, or 83 percent.

The kind of clip that could determine a game in the Sweet Sixteen.

Villafuerte likes that idea. Likes it a lot.

He’s come back from that missed free throw at Rupp Arena, with a vengeance.

The Dragons haven’t had a lot of close games over the last 3.5 months, with only five of their victories by single digits.

All the more reason to put the ball in Izayiah Villafuerte’s hands.

Villafuerte embraces his role. Supports his teammates. Hopes to play college basketball, perhaps at the NCAA Division III level.

Villafuerte is an outstanding student, too, and he plans on studying finance when he gets to college.

Like his friend Jaiden Lawrence, last year’s Warren Central teammate who now toils at the junior college level, at Southwestern Illinois College.

“I talk to Jaiden all the time,” Villafuerte said. “He’s had a really good season at Southwestern. He’s a great teammate. He’s probably gonna be playing (NCAA) Division I ball, next season.”

Lawrence, who is in Panama City, Florida, for Spring Break this week, said Villafuerte’s presence brings everything together for the Dragons on the floor.

“Iziayah’s a great player. Tough, disciplined,” Lawrence said. “A great teammate.”

William Unseld likes to extol Iziayah Villafuerte’s talents, too. Warren Central has a talented senior class, no doubt about it, but Villafuerte is a natural leader for the Dragons.

He might find himself at the free-throw line with the game on the line, again.

For the moment, however, he’s thinking about little beyond Wednesday evening’s game against the Pulaski County Maroons.

“If we play the game, at our speed, I think we’ll be all right,” Villafuerte said. “I don’t think (Pulaski County) has played a team like us yet. Coach Un likes to practice later in the day, give us a chance to go home, get something to eat.

“I think everyone knows what to expect when we get up to Lexington. I think we’re going to be ready to play.”