Warren Central High Schools Ryan Cummings (right) skies for a shot over Todd County Centrals Andrae Woodard on Monday in E.A. Diddle Arena. Photo by Clinton Lewis

Warren Central High Schools fast-break offense proved too much for Todd County Central during high school basketball action Monday in E.A. Diddle Arena. Central converted several Rebel turnovers into easy points en route to a 74-66 victory in the opening round of the Fourth Region Basketball Tournament. Its a good win for us, Warren Central coach Tim Riley said. I thought we built to our lead in the third quarter and that our team played really well. Todd Central jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Warren Central quickly shifted momentum into its favor as Terkell Boards scored five consecutive points off back-to-back steals to give the Dragons a 14-6 lead midway through the first quarter. Central (23-6) went up 21-10 on Devin Sonas 3-point play early in the second and never was seriously challenged again. Todd Central would cut it to 29-19 on Dustin Lopezs leaping offensive rebound and putback, but the Dragons responded with a 9-2 scoring clip and closed out the half leading 38-21. It seemed like they totally took us out of our offensive flow, Todd County Central coach Dennis Pardue said. We never did seem to get comfortable in our offense. Neither squad looked particularly comfortable running its offense as the teams combined for 56 turnovers. But Warren Centrals speedy backcourt of Boards and Antwuan Barber supplied the Dragons with instant punch. Barber helped give the Dragons a 60-41 lead midway in the fourth on a skip pass to Sona, who converted on an easy layup. Boards put the finishing touches on the Rebels with a 3-point play to make it 67-50. The senior duo combined for 28 points on 10-of-27 shooting and four steals. Theyve been a catalyst to our basketball team all year long, Riley said. Theyre tremendous basketball players. If you look at their stats, theyre almost exactly alike. Both of them are averaging right at 13 points a game. Boards has more steals, Barber has more deflections. Both of them have pluses on their assists to turnovers. I cant even begin to tell you how important both of them are. Riley said Todd County Central reminds him a lot of last years Dragons team. Maybe theyre a year away, he said. Theyve got a lot of young kids that are really talented. I thought when we had the draw, Id prefer to get them right off the bat before they got comfortable at Diddle Arena. The Rebels (20-8) were led by Craig Russell, who had 25 points and 13 rebounds. Michael Osborne added 11 for Todd Central while William Stewart chipped in 12.Sona grabbed nine boards and scored 22 for Warren Central; teammate Ryan Cummings added 12, including an 8-of-10 performance from the free throw line. Central will move on to face Metcalfe County after the Hornets (22-9) downed Allen County-Scottsville 64-55 in Monday nights opening game. Warren Central 18 20 16 20 74Todd C. Central 10 11 14 31 66Warren Central (23-6)R. Cummings 12, Kirk 4, Sona 22, Barber 12, Boards 16, Durrant 2, Roberson 4, Wilson 2Todd County Central (20-8)Woodard 4, Russell 25, Osborne 11, Lopez 8, Stewart 12, Johnson 4, Penick 2