Warren Central boys’ basketball coach William Unseld spotted the Dragons’ elusive third scoring option in Tuesday night’s 64-45 victory against visiting Allen County-Scottsville.

Since losing second-leading scorer Ziyan Milliken to a season-ending injury early in the season, Unseld’s team has tried to unearth another reliable scorer to complement top producers Skyelar Potter and Josh Moss.

Against the Patriots, Unseld got a combined offensive output from a trio of sources that he thinks will be vital for his team’s postseason fortunes. Potter scored a game-high 23 points and Moss added a near double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds, and a trio of Dragons – Jaylen McFadden, Luke Bailey and Datravion Jewell – combined for 17 more points.

“If those three guys – Bailey, Jewell and McFadden – can collectively get us a couple baskets, we’ll be OK because Josh and Skye will do their thing, Unseld said. Kemal (Esmic) will make some shots, Micale (Mee) can make some shots. We’ll be all right if I can get those three to collectively get us around 10 or 12 points a game.”

Warren Central (16-13) jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the opening quarter, but nearly gave it all back when the Patriots wen on an 8-0 run to close out the period trailing just 14-10. A 3-pointer by ACS’s Marcus Carter got his team within 16-13 early in the second quarter, but Potter answered with eight straight points and Mee capped the 10-0 run with a layup off a turnover to rebuild the Dragons’ lead for good.

Allen County-Scottsville (10-17) never did sustain much offense after its first-quarter rally, largely due to the Patriots’ struggles against the Dragons’ quickness.

“Their on-ball defense is pretty good,” ACS coach Lex Lindsey said. “I told the boys, ‘Whoever we play from here on out, this should make the game seem like slow motion’ because of their quickness.”

McFadden, who finished with seven points, joined with Bailey and Jewell as top of the key defenders who gave the Patriots fits on Tuesday. ACS totaled 20 turnovers in the loss.

“We’re playing real good on defense right now,” McFadden said. “On offense we’ve got to move the ball and go from there. We can play with anybody if we move the ball.”

Jack Ward scored 12 points and Sam Clarke added 10 to lead the Patriots.

Jordan Cousin (nine points) nearly joined Potter and Moss as a double-digit scorer for the Dragons.

“We’ll see what we can get done in the postseason,” Unseld said. “We’ve got one more game to get ready for the postseason, then we’ll see what we can get done then.”

ACS returns to action Friday at home against Russell County for a 7:30 p.m. game. Warren Central hosts John Hardin on Friday. Game time is 7:15 p.m.

Allen Co.-Scottsville 10 15 10 10 – 45

Warren Central 14 22 14 14 – 64

ACSHS – J. Ward 12, Clarke 10, M. Carter 9, Rippy 5, Conner 4, K. Carver 3, Ross 2.

WCHS – Potter 23, Moss 10, Cousin 9, McFadden 7, Bailey 6, Jewell 4, Esmic 3, Mee 2.

ACS 37, Warren Central 34, girls

One brutal quarter came back to bite host Warren Central for the second straight game Tuesday in a 37-34 loss to Allen County-Scottsville.

The Lady Dragons held a slim one-point lead after the opening period, but were outscored 14-2 in the second quarter and spent the rest of the game trying to dig themselves out of that hole.

Warren Central (10-16) managed that comeback, albeit briefly, by regrouping in the third quarter with a 9-0 run capped by Zakoria Hill’s three-point play that gave the Lady Dragons a 26-25 lead with 1:14 left in the quarter. Allen County-Scottsville’s Baylea Cook responded with a basket in the lane with on the Lady Patriots’ next possession, and Warren Central never led again.

“We’re working on a couple things and got some new girls in the rotation that haven’t played a whole lot this year,” Warren Central coach Joe Hood said. “The last two games, Apollo and Allen County, we’re just kind of one quarter away from having a better chance going into the fourth quarter with a little bit of momentum. But we’ve had to dig and we’ve come back. We did the same thing last week. It was that second quarter tonight, it was that second quarter against Apollo.”

ACS (14-14) pushed its lead back up to six on with about four minutes to go, after the Lady Dragons got a scare when Hill (game-high 21 points) had to briefly leave with a bloodied nose. Hill came back, and nearly led her team to the comeback before her last-second 3-point try hit the front iron and bounced away at the buzzer.

Karajah Leach added 13 points for the Lady Dragons, who had no other scorers.

Sarah Sutton scored 20 points to lead ACS, which played without head coach Brad Bonds. Assistant coach Jeff Rippy filled in for Bonds, who injured his Achilles tendon during practice Monday and underwent surgery on Tuesday.

“He’ll be back on the bench – how much coaching he’s going to do Friday night, I don’t know,” Rippy said of Bonds. “Really how much he’s going to be able to do in the district, we’re not sure yet.”

Warren Central is back in action Thursday at home, hosting Daviess County in a 7:30 p.m. game. ACS next plays on Friday at home against Russell County at 6 p.m.

Allen Co.-Scottsville 7 14 6 10 – 37

Warren Central 8 2 16 8 – 34

ACSHS – Sutton 20, Towery 6, R. Stafford 5, Cook 2, Day 2, King 2.

WCHS – Hill 21, K. Leach 13.