{"id":5751,"date":"2023-01-18T16:24:12","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T16:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=5751"},"modified":"2023-01-18T21:48:33","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T21:48:33","slug":"walkup-for-the-win-warren-centrals-energy-guy-leads-no-1-ranked-dragons-past-south-warren-72-41","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=5751","title":{"rendered":"WALKUP, FOR THE WIN\/Warren Central’s ‘energy guy’ leads No. 1-ranked Dragons past South Warren, 72-41"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\"\"
WARREN CENTRAL’s MALIK JEFFERSON
PLAYS ABOVE THE RIM.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPARTANS GET ANOTHER SHOT AT WCHS ON FRIDAY NIGHT<\/strong><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The No. 1-ranked Warren Central High School boys basketball team has a lot of moving parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s 6-foot-5 senior forward Chappelle Whitney, on the block. Steely point guard Izayiah Villafeurte, running the show, at the point. Kade Unseld, the junior swingman with the sweet jump shot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Versatile guard\/forward Omari Glover, making plays on the perimeter and underneath the basket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there’s Damarion Walkup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’ll see quick defensive movement with Walkup. Always hitting the offensive boards. Hustle plays. Loose balls on the baseline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And on Tuesday night, you saw Damarion Walkup dominate crosstown rival South Warren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walkup did very little walkin’ but he took the bull by the horns in the Dragons’ 72-41 rout of South Warren, a vastly improved team under first-year coach Carlos Quarles but one that’s got a ways to go, to run with the elite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WARREN CENTRAL GUARD DAMARION WALKUP.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WARREN CENTRAL’s MALIK JEFFERSON.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that’s where Warren Central is, at least right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dragons, ranked No. 1 in statewide polls by MaxPreps, The Associated Press and the Courier-Journal, can be an opponent’s defensive nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Eventually, people get tired of two or three bodies running at you,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “We’re going to wear you down. You’re going to make mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“And we’re able to capitalize.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Central, which improved to 18-1 overall and 3-0 in KHSAA 4th District play, has won nine straight games. South Warren (14-3, 1-2) gets another shot at the Dragons, on its home court, Friday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spartans will see plenty of Damarion Walkup in that game, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He’s everywhere, especially when the Dragons are playing defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
THE DRAGONS’ DAMARION WALKUP
STEALS THE INBOUNDS PASS …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
… AND HIS EASY BASKET
EXTENDS THE LEAD TO 20 POINTS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And on Tuesday night, Walkup led Warren Central with 22 points, in addition to his more typical role as a versatile defender and rebounder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He’s our energy guy,” Dragons point guard Izayiah Villafuerte said. “It amps up the whole team.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Warren pulled to within 10 or 11 points a few times in the opening moments of the third quarter on Tuesday night before Walkup took matters into his own hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walkup scored on an inside basket, and the next time down the floor, added a put-back. The 6-foot-1 senior guard blocked a shot, triggering a fast break, and he stole an inbounds pass for any easy basket that made it 48-28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Warren coach Carlos Quarles called a quick timeout, but the damage had been done. The Dragons would win, going away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WARREN CENTRAL’s CHAPPELLE WHITNEY SCORES INSIDE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WARREN CENTRAL FORWARD CHAPPELLE WHITNEY.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We were able to speed up the game,” WCHS forward Chappelle Whitney said, “and force them to make mistakes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walkup was often ready to pounce on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We were struggling to score, in the third quarter, so I started to be aggressive,” Walkup said. “At one or two points it was a 10-point game. South Warren’s really good. But we wanted to move the ball, make multiple passes on every possession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We know what we’re capable of doing out there. It’s all about winning.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The KHSAA’s 4th Region is arguably the best in the Commonwealth, with three teams — Warren Central, Bowling Green and South Warren — in statewide rankings. Greenwood was hit hard by graduation last season, but the Gators are getting better all the time, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a scheduling quirk, South Warren will play host to the Dragons on Friday night. The girls game begins at 6 p.m., to be followed by the boys game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one has to tell Warren Central coach William Unseld what he’s working with. Malik Jefferson turned in a strong performance off the bench, scoring eight points and helping the Dragons dominate on the boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
THE DRAGONS’ JAREK KIRK FIRES UP A LATE 3 …<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
… AND THE DRAGONS CELEBRATE THE WIN.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when sophomore guard Jarek Kirk, a backup who has to wait his turn, hit a 3-pointer in the game’s waning moments, the Warren Central bench exploded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Particularly Damarion Walkup, at the end of the bench.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dragons were havin’ some fun playing some basketball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Every coach around here knows that we do what we do,” Unseld said. “Coach Quarles is doing a helluva job. They’ve gone from a system with multiple sets, to one with more free form. He’s doing a good job of getting his team to compete<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These guy have played together, a long time. Everybody knows their role. You earn your minutes (in the game) in practice. They understand.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WARREN CENTRAL’s CHAPPELLE WHITNEY WORKS INSIDE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Central’s Chappelle Whitney did most of his work near the basket and finished with 19 points. Teammates Omari Glover and Kade Unseld had nine points each, and Jarek Kirk’s 3-pointer would be a finishing touch on the victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Lindhart led South Warren with 14 points and teammate Brandon Rowe finished with 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
SOUTH WARREN COACH CARLOS QUARLES.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We got it down to a 9- or 10-point game but we didn’t do ourselves any favors,” South coach Carlos Quaves said. “Their lengths bothered us. We made some turnovers. I told our guys, ‘Keep your heads up, you’ll learn from your mistakes.’ I don’t think we’ll be as nervous Friday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“(Warren Central) comes at you in waves.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
SOUTH’s BRANDON ROWE (No. 0)
DEFENDS AGAINST KABE UNSELD.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s been roughly 10 months since the Dragons came within an eyelash of winning the KHSAA Sweet Sixteen state championship at Lexington’s Rupp Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a 57-54 upset of Louisville’s Male High School in the first round, the Dragons stayed on the attack, eliminating Murray 54-48 in the quarterfinals to make it to the final day of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Central outlasted Covington Catholic 61-58 in the second semifinal, which meant George Rogers Clark would have a significant logistical advantage in the championship game. The Cardinals defeated Lincoln County 54-51 in the first semifinal, on Saturday morning, so they had more time to rest and get off their feet for the championship game at Rupp Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Central’s edge in quickness was neutralized, and George Rogers Clark emerged with a dramatic 43-42 victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dragons don’t obsess about the near-miss at Rupp, but it certainly has bolstered the confidence of this year’s team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We don’t think about it, talk about it too much,” senior WCHS forward Malik Jefferson said. “It happened. It might have strengthened us in the long run.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Izayiah Villafuerte, the Dragons’ sturdy point guard, agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Everything happens for a reason,” Villafuerte said. “Maybe we needed a loss like that, to get our heads on straight. Keep moving forward.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WARREN CENTRAL HAD AN EDGE UNDER THE BASKET.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WILLIAM UNSELD’s WCHS SQUAD IS 18-1 OVERALL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SPARTANS GET ANOTHER SHOT AT WCHS ON FRIDAY NIGHT The No. 1-ranked Warren Central High School boys basketball team has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hsbasketball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5751"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5781,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5751\/revisions\/5781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}