The Warren Central boys’ basketball team faced a postseason like test in Friday’s regular-season finale against visiting Evangel Christian.

Warren Central struggled to make shots in the first half, but managed to find its way on the defensive end — using a strong defensive effort to hold off Evangel Christian 54-39. The Dragons trailed at halftime, but held Evangel Christian to 13 points in the second half to seize the momentum and end the regular season on a high note.

Warren Central head coach William Unseld said it was a good test in preparation for Tuesday’s District 14 tournament matchup against Bowling Green.

“We battled,” said Unseld, who recorded his 350th career win in Friday’s victory. “It’s very similar to how Bowling Green is going to be. They are going to test you. They are going to fight you. We’ve got to prove we are going to battle back. We didn’t battle back that second time we played them. So we have to show we are going to battle a little bit.”

Warren Central (21-3) jumped out to an 8-2 advantage in the first 98 seconds before Evangel Christian (20-8) took control for the remainder of the half. The Eagles went on a 13-0 run to take the lead, with a 3-pointer from the Dragons’ Ian McDaniel cutting the margin to 15-11 at the end of the first quarter.

Evangel Christian got the advantage back to seven late in the first half, but Warren Central closed with baskets from Kaleb Prince and Kash Carter to trim the deficit to 26-23 at halftime.

“They made shots in the first half,” Unseld said. “We came in at halftime and I told them to keep shooting our shots and they are not going to keep making those. If they do, we just go home with a loss. Shake their hands and go home. Keep guarding and keep fighting.”

Aristophane Molima’s bucket opened the scoring in the second half to push the score to 28-23, before Warren Central surged in front for good. The Dragons scored 10 straight to regain the advantage. It was part of a 13-5 third quarter that saw Warren Central build a 36-31 lead.

The Eagles scored to open the fourth, but Warren Central used a 6-0 spurt to make the score 42-33. Evangel Christian got as close as five before Prince scored nine straight to help the Dragons seal the win.

Prince finished with 12 of his game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.

“It felt good getting a (win), especially the last regular-season game,” Prince said. “We are really just trying to get ready for next week and bring the intensity every day in practice. That is what it was tonight.”

Armani Byrd was next in scoring for Warren Central with nine points, while Jeremiah McCombs had eight points.

Molima led Evangel Christian with 10 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

“We ended up 21-3 with a tough schedule,” Unseld said. “This is a very talented team we played. To guard the way we did in the second half, it showed us how focused we are and ready to go. It was probably the best half defensively all year. We’ve had some really good halves, but that was our best.”

Warren Central will host the District 14 tournament, facing Bowling Green at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. It is the first time the two teams have met in a district tournament elimination game since 2013. The teams split the regular-season series, with each winning on their home court. Bowling Green’s overtime win last month is the Dragons’ only region blemish this season. The Purples have made the Region 4 final in 12 straight seasons — facing Warren Central in that region title game eight times.

“It’s a lot earlier, but again we’ve got to compete,” Unseld said. “They took it to us that second time at their place. We didn’t respond the way we needed to respond. They’ve had a great year. They are a very talented team. So we’ve got our hands full. It’s going to take everything we’ve got to get out of here on Tuesday.”

ECHS 15 11 5 8 — 39

WCHS 11 12 13 18 — 54

EC — Molima 10, Dotson 7, Norris 6, Johnson 5, Darko 4, Ramos 4, Grant 3.

WC — Prince 15, Byrd 9, McCombs 8, Anthony 7, Johnson 6, Carter 4, McDaniel 3, Duncan 2.