Dragons’ comeback clinches top seed in District 14

Published 12:12 am Saturday, February 8, 2025

By Micheal Compton

With the top seed in District 14 hanging in the balance, Warren Central boys’ basketball coach William Unseld didn’t have to say much at halftime.

Senior Jayren Byrd did most of the talking.

According to his teammates Byrd gave an impassioned half time speech, firing up the Dragons — who were able to rally for a 55-49 win over Bowling Green on Friday at Warren Central High School.

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Warren Central (19-4 overall, 6-0 District 14) rallied from 15 points down to complete the season sweep over the Purples and clinch the top seed in the District 14 Tournament later this month at Bowling Green High School.

“(Byrd) told us to think highly of ourselves and keep playing basketball,” junior guard K.J. Johnson said. “(This win) was big for us to show our coaches and teammates that we still have it. At the same time, we can’t be satisfied.”

Senior guard Robert McAfee agreed the halftime talk served as big motivation.

“We just came into the second half with a different mindset,” McAfee said. “Jayren talked a lot. He was very vocal in the locker room. It just pushed us to go out there and play like we were supposed to play.”

Bowling Green (19-5, 5-1) entered with a seven-game win streak, the last loss a 62-51 setback at home to Warren Central on Jan. 17. The Purples appeared on the way to avenging that loss with a strong first half.

Bowling Green never trailed in the half, scoring the final six points in the first quarter to surge ahead 13-7 and adding the first two baskets in the second quarter to extend the advantage to double digits.

A 3-pointer from Jace Wardlow made the score 28-13 in the final minute of the half, with Warren Central able to trim the deficit to 30-16 by halftime.

Warren Central was 5-for-20 from the field, with many of the misses coming in the paint.

“I told them that we are right here,” Unseld said. “We’ve just got to make some shots around the rim and put some gusto to it.”

A jumper from Bowling Green’s Braylon Banks made the score 35-30 with 5:06 left in the third quarter, before the Dragons began a fierce comeback.

A 3 from McAfee, his first of the night, sparked a 15-0 run over the next two minutes plus that allowed Warren Central to pull even late in the third. The Purples got a couple of buckets from Joseph Hurt to stem the tide and move back in front 39-35.

The lead was 41-37 heading into the fourth when Warren Central scored five straight, including a three-point play from Jarek Kirk to take its first lead of the night with 6:31 remaining.

The lead went back and forth three times over the next 90 seconds before a free throw from Johnson tied the score 45-all. Dominique Anthony gave Warren Central the lead for good with a 3 with 2:13 left that made the score 48-45.

Bowling Green got as close as two points, but the Dragons sealed it going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 42 seconds.

“I’m proud of our kids,” Unseld said. “We’ve been through some flu, some ankle injuries. Armani (Byrd) is out today. We’ve been down, but like I told our kids we ain’t no excuses. I don’t care who is on the floor, we are going to try to win the basketball game. I am just glad the way those guys responded.”

McAfee led the Dragons with 15 points after going scoreless with one shot in the first half.

“They were on me bad,” McAfee said. “They were like, you can’t be out there and have only one shot the whole half. You have to get out there and get your teammates going. That’s what I did.”

Johnson added 13 points, while Kirk — who missed Tuesday’s loss at Butler County with an illness — added nine points.

“(Clinching the top seed is) good for the kids,” Unseld said. “I’ve been doing this a long time, so you know you are going to play a tough game regardless. It’s really good for your confidence, your team confidence. It’s good for the kids to sense that and feel that. They’ve earned it.”

Hurt led Bowling Green with 17 points, while Banks added 15 points.

“We had ‘em on the ropes,” Bowling Green coach D.G. Sherrill said. “That first three minutes of the third quarter meant everything to us. When they got back in the game, they were on their toes and we were on our heels. Then I thought we started pressing offensively. Some of the things we were successful doing, we stopped doing. We will get back to doing what we do. We are right there. They know we are right there. We know we are right there.”

BGHS 13 17 11 8 — 49

WCHS 7 9 21 18 — 55

BG — Hurt 17, Banks 15, Bailey 6, Idlett 5, Wardlow 3, Carpenter 3.

WC — McAfee 15, Johnson 13, Kirk 9, Carter 7, J. Byrd 6, Anthony 5.

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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