It was another early-season test passed for the Warren Central boys’ basketball team, which held on to beat visiting Apollo 58-57 on Friday at Warren Central High School.

After rallying from a double-digit, first-quarter deficit at Henderson County on Tuesday, Warren Central needed a free throw from Skyelar Potter in the final seconds and a defensive stand to hold on and improve to 2-0 on the season.

“I would rather play this game than the one we did the other night,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “(Apollo) is a really good basketball team. The point guard (Angel Saldana) is a foreign exchange student. He is really good for them. He makes them a lot better.

“We just fought. We hung in there. We played a little stretch with Sky and we stayed in the game. We got a really good win against a really good team who has a chance to win the region over there.”

Friday’s game saw the momentum swing back and forth with 11 ties and 10 lead changes.

The Dragons jumped out 5-0 in the first 86 seconds, but Apollo (0-1) quickly erased that deficit to surge ahead 13-9 three minutes later.

Potter’s 3-pointer put Warren Central back in front 18-15, only to see Apollo tie it with a 3 from Hayden Shelton at the end of the first quarter.

The Eagles led most of the second quarter, but Warren Central rallied to tie it at 30 by halftime.

The Dragons took a 37-35 lead on a shot in the paint by Potter with 5:07 left in the third, but Potter had to go to the sidelines with a nosebleed, which gave Apollo some life. The Eagles answered with an 11-2 run to build a 46-39 advantage. Two free throws from Jordan Cousin and a Micale Mee 3-pointer cut the deficit to two. Potter then returned and scored on a putback with 29 seconds left in the period to pull the Dragons even.

Apollo quickly regained the momentum with a 3 from Nathan Boyle to end the third and a layup by James Graham on the opening possession of the fourth to make the score 51-46.

Warren Central answered, with Potter’s 3 fueling a 9-0 run that gave the Dragons a 55-51 advantage with 5:40 remaining. That would be the Dragons last field goal of the night, as Apollo used a 6-0 spurt to regain the lead on a Saldana layup with 2:51 remaining.

“We still have to get better at situational basketball,” Unseld said. “We got up four and went away from what was good for us, which was moving it and getting in the paint. The kids worked hard, though. That’s the type of game you want to play early in the season. It got us better.”

Tayshaun Bibb tied the score with two free throws 10 seconds later, setting up Potter on Warren Central’s final possession nearly three minutes later. The Wright State signee drove into the lane with 4.5 seconds left and was fouled on the shot to earn a trip to the free-throw line. Potter missed the first, but hit the second to make the score 58-57.

Apollo got one final look, with Saldana driving into the lane. His shot came up short and Potter secured the rebound to give the Dragons the victory.

“We called a timeout and I told them, ‘Don’t let him catch it going up the floor,’ “ Unseld said. “We have to work on that. We haven’t worked on a lot of late game situations yet … so we will work and get better at it.”

Potter led the way for Warren Central with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Cousin added 19 points, while Bibb finished with 11.

“This is the game we needed,” Potter said. “We needed a tough game like this. Give Henderson County props, they are good, but blowing them out is not helping us. We needed a game like this and we needed a win like this.”

Graham led Apollo with 14 points, while Saldana and Shelton had 13 points each.

Warren Central returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, hosting Owensboro.

AHS 18 12 19 8 – 57

WCHS 18 12 16 12 – 58

AHS – Graham 14, Saldana 13, Shelton 13, Boyle 6, Chambers 6, Gray 5.

WC – Potter 20, Cousin 19, Bibb 11, Mee 5, Esmic 3.{&end}