Miranda Pederson/Daily NewsCentral's 44 makes a rebound against Glasgow's Kerrington Bradley (left) and Cody Edwards during Tuesday's game at Dragon Gym.

Warren Central took another step toward cementing its status as the team to beat in Region 4 Tuesday with a 78-69 victory over visiting Glasgow.

Warren Central (11-3) forced two critical turnovers in the final minute to seal the win.

“It was a real good win,” Warren Central’s Scooter Lightfoot said. “Last year, we couldn’t finish games. We can finish games this year. We survived their threes and came out and finished the game. That’s what made us win.”

Warren Central coach Tim Riley said he was proud of his team’s effort.

“They are a good basketball team,” Riley said of Glasgow. “They have a really great basketball player (in junior guard Cameron Hall). They outrebounded us. They shot it great. Honestly, they are one of about eight or nine teams that can win the region. It was a good win for us.”

The Dragons shot 51.7 percent from the field, but were unable to shake the Scotties, who were 11-for-22 from 3-point range.

“We’re a team that we can get on runs to where we shoot the ball extremely well from outside, but there is a danger to that,” Glasgow coach Jeff Hall said.

Glasgow (10-3) hit seven 3-pointers in the opening quarter, but afterward still trailed 24-23.

The Scotties thrived on the perimeter, with Cameron Hall and Craig Mosier combining for 26 points in the first half.

But Warren Central answered with a big half from Lightfoot. The senior was 5-for-8 from the field in the half, scoring 10 points, with most of his buckets coming on mid-range jumpers.

“Coach told me that the middle of (Glasgow’s zone defense) would be wide open, so I needed to be ready to catch the ball,” Lightfoot said.

He helped the Dragons maintain a slim lead before Warren Central got three buckets in the final 52 seconds to build a 45-37 halftime advantage.

The lead remained between eight and 13 points until late in the fourth quarter, when Glasgow made one final push.

The Scotties took advantage of poor free throw shooting by Warren Central to key an 11-1 run, making the score 72-69 with 44.5 seconds remaining. The Dragons missed four straight free throws during the stretch, including a pair of one-and-ones.

“We’re going to have to shoot some extra free throws in practice,” Lightfoot said. “That kind of scared us, but we survived.”

Glasgow got no closer. The Dragons hit four free throws and forced two turnovers in the final 44 seconds – closing the game with six straight points.

“They take a one-possession game and make it a three-possession game very quickly,” Jeff Hall said. “Give them credit. Their athleticism and speed gives them that opportunity to do that to you. But give my kids credit, too. They hung in there and fought and fought and fought. I was very proud of our effort overall.”

Riley said a win like this helps his team’s confidence.

“It helps being 11-3 right now and it helps that all these guys have been through this before,” Riley said. “We’ve won most of our close games so far. We did some things late that got us in trouble, but we were able to bail ourselves out. That’s important.”

Lightfoot paced the Dragons with 16 points, while Jordan Shanklin added 15 points and Pete Winn finished with 14.

Cameron Hall poured in 27 points and Mosier finished with 17 points for Glasgow.

The Scotties play at Allen County-Scottsville at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Warren Central will host Bowling Green at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

GHS 23 14 16 16 – 69

WCHS 24 21 16 17 – 78

GHS – Mosier 17, Hall 27, Glass 5, K. Bradley 15, M. Bradley 1, Cash 4.

WCHS – Winn 14, Lightfoot 16, Jackson 6, King 8, Halcomb 9, Fant 7, Shanklin 15, Wells 3.