The Warren Central boys’ basketball team took rival Bowling Green’s best shot before recovering for a 66-56 win Thursday at Bowling Green High School.

Warren Central (15-2 overall, 2-0 District 14) fought through foul trouble and a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Purples before scoring the final 10 points to snap an eight-game skid against Bowling Green and win on BG’s home floor for the first time since Jan. 17, 2014.

“For most of the guys, we have never beat Bowling Green,” Warren Central senior guard Micale Mee said. “They’ve always been the dominant team in town, so it’s great to be able to get one on their home court.”

It looked for most of the night like the battle between the top two teams in the latest Daily News Area Top 10 would go to the No. 1 Dragons until Bowling Green nearly completed an improbable fourth-quarter comeback.

Skyelar Potter scored seven of the first 10 points for the Dragons, helping Warren Central build a 14-4 advantage.

Bowling Green (11-7, 3-1) cut the deficit to 23-19 after two free throws from Isaiah Mason early in the second quarter, but a Mee 3-pointer and a three-point play from Potter quickly pushed the margin back to 10.

The advantage grew to 41-28 at halftime, despite Tayshaun Bibb, Jordan Cousin and Jamale Barber all picking up three fouls in the first half. Cousin went to the bench with his fourth foul 30 seconds into the third period, but Warren Central continued to stretch its advantage – with a bucket by Kemal Esmic giving the Dragons a commanding 48-32 lead.

Mee and Barber both picked up their fourth foul within five seconds of each other and BG took advantage. The Purples cut the deficit to 50-41 on a 3 from Trevor Dennis to start the fourth quarter and continued to inch closer as Cousin and Barber fouled out with five minutes remaining.

Jaylen Wardlow’s layup with 3:28 remaining capped a 15-4 run that allowed Bowling Green to pull even 56-56.

“To me it was kind of shocking,” Potter said. “I feel like my teammates, (the Purples) were getting in their heads. We just had to pull them over to the side and tell them to calm down … keep it going.”

The Purples had a chance to take the lead on the next possession but turned the ball over. Warren Central took the lead for good with 1:52 remaining when Esmic scored off an assist from Potter. It was the start of a 10-0 run to close the game, with the Purples coming up empty on their final six possessions.

“The foul trouble hurt us and then we just panicked late,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “We had a double-figure lead. I was most proud that it was tied, we took a timeout, we came back and we kept fighting. We kept our composure and we just took off again.

“This is the kind of game that gets you better. Get a big lead, give it up, and they get back in it. The whistle wasn’t going our way … and we fought through that.”

Potter led the Dragons with 27 points, while Mee added 19 points.

“You are talking about two seniors who have played a lot of basketball and bought into doing things the way we want to do it,” Unseld said. “Micale is one of the best defenders in the region. Skyelar Potter is the best rebounder and best player in the region and he showed it tonight.”

Jarius Key led Bowling Green with 18 points, while Dennis added 16 points.

“I thought what happened to create that 16-point deficit (happened again) when we tied it up,” Bowling Green coach Derrick Clubb said. “We were really exhausted because we were playing so hard. I’m really proud of the guys for battling tonight, but it is still unfortunate.”

Both teams return to action at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, with the Dragons hosting South Warren and Bowling Green hosting Christian County.

WCHS 23 18 9 16 – 66

BGHS 17 11 10 18 – 56

WC – Potter 27, Mee 19, Bibb 9, Cousin 4, Esmic 4, Barber 2, Pillow 1.

BG – Key 18, Dennis 16, Kenner 8, Gray 6, Wardlow 2, Dice 2, Mason 2, Ju. Dingle 2.

Girls

Bowling Green 53, Warren Central 19

Keely Morrow had 18 points and Taylor Ragland added 15 points to lead the Lady Purples to a District 14 victory.

Bowling Green (10-8 overall, 3-1 District 14) held Warren Central to 13.3 percent shooting from the field and forced 30 turnovers. The Lady Dragons missed the first 20 shots from the field before picking up the team’s first field goal on a jumper from Saniyah Shelton with 2:33 left in the first half.

“That is the main thing we are trying to focus on right now – get better defensively,” Bowling Green coach Calvin Head said. “We’ve seen that in the last three games and we want to continue to do that going down the stretch. If we want to get back to the region tournament and make a run we’ve got to do it defensively, so I was very pleased with our effort coming out of the gate.”

Shelton led Warren Central (2-16, 0-2) with seven points.

WCHS 1 4 7 7 – 19

BGHS 18 14 16 5 – 53

WC – Shelton 7, Whitfield 3, Johnson 3, Ray 2, Conner 2, Taylor 1, Anthony 1.

BG – Morrow 18, Ragland 15, Brown 7, Jones 5, Owens 2, M. Gray 2, Whitson 2, Martin 1, K. Gray 1.{&end}