Warren Central’s boys’ basketball team battled Louisville’s St. Xavier into the fourth quarter before ultimately falling short 62-54 in the King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic on Thursday in Louisville.

The Dragons built a 13-11 lead by the end of the first quarter, but the Tigers – ranked No. 1 in the state in the Courier Journal’s preseason coaches’ poll – answered with a 16-2 run in the second quarter to take control.

St. Xavier, the defending King of the Bluegrass champions, led 32-20 at halftime and stretched that lead to 14 by the end of the third.

No. 13 Warren Central (3-1) rallied to within eight points late in the fourth quarter, but could get no closer.

Armani Byrd led the Dragons with 19 points and six rebounds. Dominique Anthony added nine points, Kaleb Prince scored eight points and Ian Daniel chipped in with seven points.

Josh Lindsay had a game-high 23 points and Jeremiah Jackson added 17 points and eight rebounds for St. Xavier (4-1), which lost 17 turnovers and were held well below their season scoring average fo 88.5 points by the Dragons.

Warren Central will face Grayson County in a consolation bracket game on Saturday night.