It wasn’t the best effort, but for the Warren Central boys’ basketball team one strong stretch was good enough to lift the Dragons to a 69-55 win at South Warren on Friday.

Warren Central (12-1 overall, 2-0 District 14) used a dominant second quarter to take control, but let the gas off the accelerator a little bit to allow the Spartans to make a charge in the fourth quarter.

“We always struggle here,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “If you look at our scores here the last few games, it has been very close. To get out of here with a 14-point win and not play great, I’m tickled. It gives me something to get on them about. Give them credit, they kept fighting. We have a lot of film we can look at and understand that we can’t have moments like that. That will get us beat in the long run.”

The Dragons shot 37% from the field in the first half, but still grinded out a 15-9 lead after one quarter.

South Warren (11-4, 1-1) scored the first five points in the second quarter to make the score 15-14 when Warren Central started to take off. A 3-pointer from Armani Byrd started a 17-3 run to close the half allowing the Dragons to get some distance, turning a one-point lead to a 32-17 advantage. The outburst included several baskets in transition, taking advantage of a stifling defensive effort that had South Warren on its heels.

“We had a lot of self-inflicted errors that we have been talking about in practice,” South Warren coach Carlos Quarles said. “We didn’t handle it well in the second quarter and it got us in a hole. It’s hard against a team like that.”

Six straight points from Dominique Anthony to open the second half pushed the margin to 20 points. The lead grew to 55-32 after a layup late in the third quarter, before South Warren came to life.

The Spartans chipped away, getting the deficit down to 11 with 2:50 left before Warren Central was able to close it out.

“We just weren’t very sharp in the second half,” Unseld said. “We had a great stretch in the second quarter and the start of the third. From that point on, I think we got up 22, then we just went crazy. We lost all kinds of discipline. Now it ain’t about the game, it’s about me now. We were taking quick, bad shots. It’s one of those things that I am glad it happened. Now it’s a learning experience.”

Anthony led the Dragons with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

“It felt pretty good to make that impact,” Anthony said. “I love crashing the boards, so hearing that I got 10 rebounds that’s good.”

Byrd added 15 points, while KJ Johnson finished with 12 points.

Clay Willis led South Warren with 22 points. Jaxen Decker added 11 points and Owen Shively finished with 10 points.

“We continued to stay with our game plan,” Quarles said. “We finally got used to the speed and how they were coming at us and started going, but it was a little too late.”

Both teams return to action on Tuesday. Warren Central will play at Central Hardin at 7 p.m. CST. South Warren hosts Glasgow at 7:30 p.m.

WCHS 15 17 23 14 — 69

SWHS 9 8 17 21 — 55

WC — Anthony 17, Byrd 15, Johnson 12, Carter 8, Prince 6, McCombs 5, Murrell 4, Ry. Hulber 2.

SW — Willis 22, Decker 11, Shively 10, McIntyre 8, Pratt 3, Perkins 1.

Girls

South Warren 48, Warren Central 34

The Spartans were able to break open a close game with a strong fourth quarter, earning the first district win of the season.

South Warren (4-10 overall, 1-1 District 14) never trailed after the first quarter, but was locked in a battle for the first three quarters. The Spartans led 21-16 at halftime, with Warren Central (3-12, 0-2) still within striking distance after a free throw from Dyamond Posey made the score 31-27 with 34 seconds left in the third.

South Warren scored four points in the final 34 seconds — including a 3 from Majaiah Flournoy — to make the score 35-27. South Warren opened the fourth with 3s from Catherine Calvert and JaNya Anderson to push the advantage to 41-28. The lead grew to as many as 17 points as the Lady Dragons were held to seven free throws in the fourth quarter.

Anderson led the Spartans with 15 points. Kalie Kuzma added 11 points and Averi Fugate finished with 10 points.

Myra Mayberry finished with a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds, while Charlee Bailey added eight points for the Lady Dragons.

WCHS 5 11 11 7 — 34

SWHS 8 13 14 13 — 48

WC — Mayberry 18, Bailey 8, Posey 5, Tisdale 2, Bowman 1.

SW — Anderson 15, Kuzma 11, Fugate 10, Calvert 4, Osborne 3, Flourney 3, Gatewood 2.