No Armani Byrd, no problem for the Warren Central boys’ basketball team who kept rolling along with an 85-56 win over host Greenwood on Friday.

Playing without leading scorer and rebounder Byrd, sidelined with the flu, Warren Central (14-1 overall, 3-0 District 14) still dominated the glass and used a balanced attack to cruise to an 11th straight win.

“It was great to see,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “We shared the ball. We moved the ball. I always have a negative – we fouled way too much tonight. If we don’t foul them I don’t know if they get 40 points. A lot of it was we were playing hard. I was proud of the kids because defensively we didn’t fool around.”

Warren Central never trailed, but needed a little while to get going. The Dragons led 13-11 early in the second when a 3-pointer from KJ Johnson sparked an 8-0 spurt that pushed the margin to 21-11. The advantage grew to 12 points before Greenwood (13-4, 1-2) hit back-to-back 3s to cut the deficit to 31-25 at the half.

“We got some distance, but we let them back in it at the end (of the first half),” Unseld said. “They got back in the game. Hit two 3s late, but we just told them to keep going, keep pushing. We did a great job with the pace and really guarding to start the third quarter.”

Warren Central blew it open in the third quarter. The Dragons started the second half with a 13-3 run to make the score 44-28. The advantage grew to 60-38 after three, with Warren Central leading by as many as 30 points in the final quarter.

“We just stayed together as a team, talking on defense,” Warren Central guard Kaleb Prince said. “We let our defense carry us. Regardless of who is playing or not, we know that we can all do the same job. I got a lot of scorers around me, a lot of different types of scorers. I just know the pressure is off me.”

Prince was one of four Dragons to finish in double figures. Johnson led the way with 16 points. Prince added 14 points, while Kash Carter and Dominique Anthony added 13 points each.

The Dragons outrebounded Greenwood 33-19, with Jerimiah McCombs pulling down a team-high eight boards.

“It was pretty tough tonight on the boards without Armani, but we pushed through it,” Prince said.

Isaiah Summers led the way for Greenwood with 21 points, while Martell Tuttle added 12 points.

WCHS 13 18 29 25 – 85

GHS 10 15 13 18 – 56

WC – Johnson 16, Prince 14, Carter 13, Anthony 13, McCombs 7, McDaniel 6, Hoosier 6, Cousin 5, Murrell 2, Ra. Hulbert 2, Duncan 1.

GHS – Summers 21, Tuttle 12, Sampson 8, Graves 4, Kennedy 3, Meador 3, Richardson 2, York 2, Stinson 1.

Girls

Greenwood 47, Warren Central 19

The Lady Gators turned up the defensive pressure in the second half to pull away and earn the district win.

Greenwood (8-8 overall, 2-1 District 14) led 17-15 at halftime, but held the Lady Dragons to two field goals total in the second half – outscoring Warren Central 30-4.

The Lady Gators forced 37 turnovers.

Molly Spidel led Greenwood with 19 points and seven rebounds. Anzlee Hendrix added 16 points for the Lady Gators.

Myra Mayberry had seven points and 16 rebounds to lead Warren Central (3-15, 0-3).

WCHS 7 8 2 2 – 19

GHS 8 9 12 18 – 47

WC – Mayberry 7, Posey 5, Basham 5, Tisdale 2.

GHS – Spidel 19, Hendrix 16, Buser 4, Morgan 3, Morrison 3, Clark 2.