Dragons clamp down to move past BG
Published 8:12 am Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Tuesday’s postseason matchup between Warren Central and Bowling Green was a heavyweight fight that had all the feels of a Region 4 championship game.
Yet, this was an elimination game with much different stakes – a District 14 Boys’ Basketball Tournament opener where one team moved on to E.A. Diddle Arena and the other saw its season come to a premature end.
In the end the Dragons were able to survive, using a dominant defensive effort to get some distance and hold off a young Bowling Green squad 47-37 at Warren Central High School. Warren Central (22-3) held the Purples scoreless for 11 minutes – including a critical six-minute stretch to open the second half that saw the Dragons take control and avenge a loss to Bowling Green last month.
“That’s a talented group,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “They are young, but they are talented. They fought. They did some good things. They had a heck’uva season. (Coach D.G. Sherrill) has done a great job for a long time, but I think this is one of his better jobs. He’s done a great job with that group. I just thought we were a little older. We went and made some plays.”
Playing in a district tournament elimination game against each other for the first time since 2013, both teams started sluggish on the offensive end. The teams combined for 19 points in the first quarter with Jeremiah McCombs’ buzzer beater giving Warren Central a 10-9 lead.
After the Dragons opened the second quarter with a basket by Ryan Hulbert, Bowling Green (19-12) scored six straight to surge back in front 15-12. The Purples held a 17-14 advantage after a layup from Arlando Davis with 4:56 left in the half, but BG would go cold from there.
Warren Central got layups from Kaleb Prince and Dominique Anthony to go back in front 18-17, but couldn’t extend the margin while struggling to find a rhythm offensively. Warren Central shot 28% from the field in the first half.
“We were too jacked up,” Unseld said. “I told them to calm down, because everything we shot was long. Every jump shot as soon as they come out we are yelling on the bench, ‘Long.’ We were too jacked up. I told them that we are going to win with our defense tonight. We are not making shots, so let’s win with our defense.”
Warren Central scored the first nine points in the second half, a slow offensive drip that allowed the Dragons to take a double-digit lead. A 3-pointer from Hudson Akins with 2:05 left in the third finally ended the BG scoring drought, but Warren Central scored the next six points to make the score 33-20 early in the fourth quarter.
Bowling Green tried to rally, getting as close as 36-30 with 1:38 remaining, but the Dragons were able to close it out at the free-three line – including six straight from Prince in the final 31 seconds.
“There are critical moments in a game,” Sherrill said. “The first three minutes in that first quarter is one of them. We talked about how we’ve got to respond in that first three minutes and I thought we just really got flat offensively. You have to credit Warren Central. Their ball pressure was pretty intense. We just couldn’t get a shot to fall. If we could have scored five, six more points there in the third quarter we are right there.”
Prince finished with a game-high 17 points to lead the way for the Dragons. McCombs added eight points.
“I didn’t want to go home early at all,” Prince said. “We got a goal we made at the beginning of the year, so getting that goal and keep moving forward – that was very important to me tonight.”
Akins had 11 to lead Bowling Green. Christian Muhire, BG’s lone senior, finished with eight points.
The loss ended a string of 12 straight Region 4 appearances for Bowling Green. The Purples advanced to at least the region final all 12 years, winning six times including last season. Coming off a state runner-up finish, the Purples had to rebuild with a young roster. Bowling Green started 9-9, but won 13 out of the final 16 including the only region team to date to beat Warren Central.
“We were state runner-up last year and that was a blast,” Sherrill said. “I’ve had more fun this year with these guys. I love these guys because they come every day to work. They are great kids. We’ve got great support. They work hard for me. And I don’t think there is a team that I know of that I’ve seen that’s improved more from the beginning of the year than we have improved.”
Warren Central advances to face South Warren in the District 14 championship at 6 p.m. on Friday at Warren Central High School.
“With us we treat (the district final) like a regular game, but on our home court we want to go win it,” Unseld said. “It’s our home court. We don’t want anyone else cutting our nets down. We are going to get some rest, get focused and get prepared to play on Friday.”
BGHS 9 8 3 17 – 37
WCHS 10 8 13 16 – 47
BG – Akins 11, Muhire 8, An. Davis 6, Ar. Davis 4, Dotson 4, Anderson 2, Thomas 2.
WC – Prince 17, McCombs 8, Byrd 6, Johnson 6, Hulbert 5, Anthony 4, Carter 1.
About Micheal Compton
I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.
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