The puzzle is starting to take shape for the Greenwood boys’ basketball team with the latest piece establishing the Gators as a headache for potential postseason opponents.

Greenwood used a strong second half to flip the script and down the Warren Central Dragons 59-55 on Friday at Greenwood High School.

The Gators led the entire second half, avenging a 28-point loss to the Dragons last month. The win was the sixth straight for Greenwood, which secured the two seed in the District 14 Tournament.

“Our team has been like a giant Rubik’s Cube,” Greenwood coach Bob Pels said. “We are trying to shift all the pieces … and finally I think we’ve got everybody in the right spots now. It really makes it fun. They trust each other and work hard together. It’s the way it is supposed to be played.

“I don’t think too many people thought we were going to win this one, but everyone in our locker room did. I’m really happy.”

Warren Central (15-8 overall, 5-3 District 14) cruised to a 79-51 win over the Gators at home Jan. 18, but Friday’s rematch was a much different result with Greenwood seizing the momentum after halftime, then holding on for the victory.

The Dragons jumped out to a 9-2 advantage – and still led 17-10 after a jumper by Tegra Muleka at the end of the first quarter.

Greenwood (14-11, 6-2) answered with its own 9-2 run to tie the score at 19. The game would remain tied 23-all going into the second half with each team exchanging buckets over the final two minutes of the second quarter.

The Gators began the second half with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. The margin grew to 44-32 after two free throws by Ben Carroll with 1:29 left in the third period before the Dragons tried to rally back.

Kamden Lawrence hit a pair of 3s to help Warren Central cut the deficit in half heading into the fourth, then Tayshaun Bibb’s putback made the score 46-42 with 6:59 remaining.

The Dragons got as close as three on three occasions in the final three minutes, but Greenwood sealed the victory with four free throws in the final 11 seconds.

“It was a really good win for us,” Carroll said. “I think everybody is starting to click. I like how we are looking going into the postseason.”

Carroll paced the Gators with 20 points, while Jack Roberts added 18 points.

Bibb had 16 points for Warren Central, which drops to the third seed in the District 14 Tournament. Warren Central and Greenwood will meet again in the District semifinals.

“We played with no energy today,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “They came out and punched us in the mouth. They wanted it in the second half. We played awful coming out of the gate in the third quarter. It’s simple – their two guys played, ours didn’t. “

Warren Central will play at Wayne County at 4 p.m. CST Saturday, while Greenwood travels to Monroe County at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

WCHS 17 6 17 15 – 55

GHS 10 13 23 13 – 59

WC – Bibb 16, Muleka 12, Boyd 9, Lawrence 7, Floyd 6, Brents 5.

GHS – Carroll 20, Roberts 18, Stinnett 8, N. Stansbury 7, Williams 6.

Warren Central 49, Greenwood 44, girls

The Lady Dragons outscored Greenwood 13-5 over the final three minutes to pick up the program’s first District 14 victory since Feb. 20, 2017, and the second straight win overall.

Krissy Johnson led Warren Central (2-23 overall, 1-7 District 14) with 19 points, while La Aunhni Lewis added 12 points.

“Our spirits are really up (right now),” Johnson said. “It’s really exciting to set the tone for my team – to set them up and make the plays myself. Every night is exciting.”

Warren Central trailed 39-36 with three minutes left, but scored 10 straight to take the lead for good.

“I thought we’ve been playing well the last four or five games,” Warren Central coach Joe Hood said. “We just hadn’t put a full game together – couldn’t stop the runs. We have a young team that has trouble scoring at times.

“We believe now and when you get a win it seems like a few more shots start to fall … and that’s what we struggled with early in the season.”

Greenwood (11-14, 2-6) began the night with injured sophomore forward Savannah Hartis scoring a basket in the final game of her prep career, then lost All-Region 4 sophomore guard Jacqueline Jackson to a left leg injury early in the first quarter.

Hartis, who suffered her third ACL injury earlier this season, scored on an uncontested layup after Warren Central won the tip and scored on a bucket by Johnson.

“Going through the surgeries – seven knee surgeries now and looking at another one – having my team behind me and the other girls letting me know that they were behind really shows that it goes beyond basketball. It shows that we are all together at the end of the day.”

Two minutes later, sophomore guard Jackson went down under Warren Central’s basket with a left knee injury. Jackson returned to the sidelines on crutches at halftime and did not return.

Nicole Milam led Greenwood with 15 points, while Megan Une added 10 points.

The Lady Gators, who entered the night still with a shot at finishing as the three seed in the District 14 Tournament, fall to the fourth seed and will face Warren Central in the play-in game Feb. 18 at Warren East High School.

“You hate when any player goes down, but when a player of Jacqueline’s caliber goes down it’s tough,” Greenwood coach Zach Simpson said. “We have to have people step up. We didn’t make enough defensive plays down the stretch to seal the lead that we had. You have to fight through the defensive battles at the end of the game and learn to play with those leads.”

Warren Central returns to action at Clinton County at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Greenwood plays at Monroe County at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

WCHS 10 8 15 16 – 49

GHS 11 11 9 13 – 44

WC – Johnson 19, Lewis 12, Ray 8, Leach 5, Conner 3, Shobe 2.

GHS – Milam 15, Une 10, Miller 8, Gordon 6, Trinh 3, Hartis 2.{&end}