It could have been epic – on another night.

Tuesday’s game between visiting Hopkinsville and Warren Central may well have served as a preview for a potential state tournament matchup down the road this season, but neither the Tigers nor the Dragons much resembled themselves as Warren Central gutted through a 57-47 victory.

The Tigers’ trouble was easy to diagnosis – still missing all-state senior guards Shorty Cager (suspension) and Jalen Johnson (illness), Hopkinsville has been playing short-handed all season.

As for the Dragons? Sometimes the ball just refuses to go in the basket.

An off night shooting for star senior guard Skyelar Potter was symptomatic for the Dragons, who overcame a 22-of-59 (37.3) shooting night by clamping down on defense and winning in the paint for a 32-20 rebounding advantage.

“It was an ugly game for us,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “We didn’t shoot well, but to our credit we still defended and rebounded. We got sloppy late. We got the lead up, then got sloppy with the basketball.”

Warren Central (14-2) got a scoring boost from junior guard Tayshaun Bibb, who finished with a season-high 16 points. Bibb did much of his damage under the basket, where he managed to produce by slipping past taller front-court defenders.

Bibb’s second-quarter output reflected his fearless approach in the paint – a tip-in off a miss, a post-up move for a bucket and a fast-break finish that helped the Dragons stretch a six-point lead to begin the quarter to a 31-21 advantage at the break.

“My teammates just fed me the ball and I was just trying to be aggressive,” Bibb said. “We weren’t shooting the ball real well tonight and I just tried to step up and wanted to do more than I usually do.”

Hopkinsville (6-10) hung with the Dragons well into the fourth quarter, opening on a 7-0 run to pull within 48-43 and were still within five after Bryce Smith’s backdoor-cut basket made it 52-47 with 2:57 to play.

Potter (11 points) sank a free throw to stretch the lead back to six, then Jamale Barber came up with a huge defensive play when he swiped the ball away from the Tigers’ James Nicholas and whipped the ball downcourt to Potter for an uncontested dunk.

“He’s really our unsung hero,” Unseld said of Barber. “He’ll get seven or eight assists, three or four steals. He’ll make all of his free throws and he’s going to be tough. We just put him on whoever the primary ballhandler is and say just make his job tough all night. And he loves that part of the game.”

Hopkinsville turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, and Barber buried a couple free throws with 24 seconds to go to produce the final margin.

Jacarius Burks led the Tigers with 22 points, and Nicholas added 11. Hopkinsville coach Timothy Haworth said he expects his team to be back at full strength “soon.”

“That’s been our season so far,” Haworth said. “We’ve had four starters out most of the season and tonight it was Jalen and Shorty – those are two all-star guards. And I think once we get them back we can be really, really good.”

Potter added 11 rebounds to go along with his 11 points for a double-double. Jordan Cousin also had 11 points for the Dragons, who return to action Friday at District 14 rival Bowling Green for a 7:30 p.m. game.

Hopkinsville 6 15 15 11 – 47

Warren Central 12 19 17 9 – 57

Hopkinsville – Burks 22, Nicholas 11, Smith 8, Tolliver 4, Victor 2.

Warren Central – Bibb 16, Cousin 11, Potter 11, Mee 8, Barber 7, Esmic 4.{&end}