Dragons shoot past Barren for 72-49 road win

Published 6:19 pm Wednesday, January 8, 2025

by Jeff Nations

GLASGOW – Warren Central boys’ basketball William Unseld saw plenty he didn’t like from his team in Tuesday’s road game at Barren County.

Unseld thought the Dragons didn’t rebound with enough determination and settled for shots at times. That Warren Central still came out with a 72-49 victory was of little importance to Unseld – his expectations are high for his team.

“We played terrible,” Unseld said. “I wasn’t happy – we were sluggish, had a couple days off. Give Barren County credit, they fought and kept playing. I think we got up and just started playing around with the game and didn’t have a lot of discipline tonight. It’s good for us – we got some stuff we need to correct and work on.

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“I told them, ‘You know you’re really good when your coach is unhappy with a 20-plus point win.’ ”

Warren Central (11-1) showed what a matchup problem they will be for most anyone they play this season, combining great length that created real problems on offense for the Trojans while displaying a deadly shooting ability on the other end. The Dragons rained down 12 3-pointers, with senior Robert ‘Ant’ McAfee hitting four 3-pointers and scoring a game-high 24 points in the win.

It was the latest impressive performance for the 6-foot-5 McAfee, a Bellarmine commit who leads the team with 21.5 points per game in his first season with the school after transferring from Legacy Christian Academy.

“Just scoring the basketball, he’s probably one of the best I’ve coached,” Unseld said. “He’s the best contested shot maker I’ve ever coached. You can be right on top of him and he sees nothing but the rim, which is a good trait to have. I want him to rebound more and do some other stuff, but he’s a heckuva player.”

McAfee helped lead Legacy Christian to a Kentucky Christian Athletic Association state championship last season in his first year with that program after moving to the area to Tennessee, but wanted to reunite with his brother, Dyvante, who was attending Warren Central and played baseball last season for the Dragons.

Now playing for his third team in three seasons, McAfee has been a seamless fit with the Dragons.

“I feel like I fit well with this team,” McAfee said. “We all kind of mesh together well. I just bond with my teammates. Having a good bond really leads to good chemistry on the court, so just being able to bond and meet new people kind of helps me, I guess.”

The Dragons established a sizable lead in the first quarter, forcing Barren County (6-8) into seven turnovers in the first eight minutes. Leading 10-6 in the first, Central outscored the Trojans 12-2 over the next three-plus minutes to grab a 22-8 lead after a quarter.

Barren trimmed that slightly to 12 points a couple times in the second quarter, but the Dragons continued to punish them from 3-point range by hitting four more treys after hitting four in the first quarter. Warren Central led 42-25 at halftime.

The Trojans made little headway in the second half, despite Unseld’s displeasure at his team’s showing over the final two quarters.

Warren Central finished 12-of-21 (57.1%) from 3-point range and shot 62.2% overall from the field.

“We’ve got a really good team,” Unseld said. “We shoot it and we’ve held teams under 50 points, so that’s been a winning formula for us. But we’ve still got to do the little stuff to get better.”

Jarek Kirk added 10 points and Armani Byrd had nine points for the Dragons, who are back in action Thursday against visiting Greenwood in a District 14 matchup that was moved up from Friday due to predicted winter weather.

The Dragons have won seven straight games.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” McAfee said. “We’ve been winning a lot of games, playing some decent basketball. But we’re way better than what we are right now. We’ve just got to get there.”

Tate Spillman scored 12 points and Joshua Decker added 11 points for Barren County, which is set to visit District 15 foe Glasgow on Thursday.

WCHS 22 20 17 13 – 72

BCHS 8 17 8 16 – 49

WCHS – McAfee 24, Kirk 10, A. Byrd 9, Carter 7, Daniel 6, J. Byrd 5, R. Hulbert 5, Anthony 4, R. Hulbert 2.

BCHS – T. Spillman 12, Decker 11, Hardy 7, Nunn 6, Reece 5, Blackburn 4, Griggs 4.

GIRLS

Barren County 73, Warren Central 12

Barren County raced out to a 22-point lead after a quarter and kept pulling away from there for a 73-12 victory.

The Trojanettes forced a running clock for the entire second half.

Barren County (11-2) outrebounded the Lady Dragons 48-14.

Shelby Byrd led a deep scoring effort for the Trojanettes with 11 points. Addyson McFall, Kaitlyn Elmore, Mahalia Burton and Katie Gearlds each had eight points for Barren, which had 13 different players score in the win.

Barren County, which has won four straight, visits District 15 rival Glasgow on Thursday.

Myra Mayberry scored eight points and added six rebounds for the Lady Dragons.

Warren Central (0-11) hosts District 14 foe Greenwood on Thursday.

WCHS 4 1 4 3 – 12

BCHS 26 18 16 13 – 73

WCHS – Mayberry 8, Posey 3, Tisdale 1.

BCHS – Byrd 11, Burton 8, Elmore 8, Gearlds 8, McFall 8, H. Wilson 7, Griffiths 6, Slagle 5, Ri. Wilson 5, Bragg 2, Cannon 2, Mullins 2, Atkinson 1.

About Jeff Nations

Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News

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