Warren Central made good on their preseason promise, overcoming both the mentally draining loss in the district finals to Bowling Green as well as a disastrous start to this game that saw them fall behind by 11 in the first quarter. Early on, Jarius Key was the story. He had 11 points for the Purples in the first quarter, helping them out to a 17-8 advantage after one. Central battled back, going on runs of 7-0 and 7-2 to draw into a 23 all tie before a Jarius Key lay-in at the buzzer staked the Purples to a 25-23 lead. Key had 17 points in the first half, but one of the crucial aspects of the second half is that he did not score a single point.

 

After Bowling Green scored the first five of the second half, Central scored 9 in a row to take a 32-30 lead, and the score was 35-32 Central when the most crucial moments of the night happened. First, Davion Dice got a steal and dunk to draw the Purples within 1 with 5 seconds left. Barber inbounded to Cousin, who drilled a 60 footer to push it to 38-34 after three. The Dragons were energized, and it was the first moment where you felt like perhaps this would be the night that Central caught the breaks. Back to back threes just under the seven minute mark by Cousin then Potter made it 45-36, and the Purples never got within 6 again.

 

The Dragons had an extremely short rotation, mostly just playing 6 guys on he night. Cousin had another stellar game, pouring in 24 points - 13 in the final quarter. Potter added in 19 to keep the Dragons going early on. The two seniors came up big when the Dragons had to have it. Bowling Green finally had an off night from their bench, getting only four points from their reserves, including Isaiah Mason who only had two after leading Bowling Green in scoring in the district finals. The Purples regressed to the mean with only 4/14 shooting from three, and only 21/53 from the field. Don't weep for them - they have soooooo much talent coming back.

 

I'm honestly still floating. This was an incredibly emotional game for Dragon supporters. So much has gone wrong for the school in the last few years, and this was widely seen as the last shot at a title for the next several years. It was just so gratifying to see this great group of kids get the win.

Excellent game. Good luck to the Dragons at Rupp.

I'd like to see Warren Central make a run at Rupp. Good luck Dragons

Congratulations and good luck to the Warren Central Dragons.

Great recap @DragonFire.

Congrats DFire and the Warren Central Dragons! Well earned win.

Hate to see the Purples lose it right before Rupp, but sometimes it just isn't your night. Good luck going forward!

Good to see WC get over the hump.