Final.

YOU DON’T WANNA GO TO WARRRRRRRR WITH THE DRAGONS THE D R A G O N S!

I genuinely believed it was over going into the fourth. I’ve watched Bowling Green close out games like that for years. They take the air out of the ball and they make you foul them. When they shot that three up eight, it was first moment I wondered. When Central cut it to five on the next possession, I think Bowling Green got tight. 

Wow - bad loss BG and terrific win Dragons.  Thought they had no shot this year.

9 minutes ago, BIG BLACK JACK said:

YOU DON’T WANNA GO TO WARRRRRRRR WITH THE DRAGONS THE D R A G O N S!

 

Congrats to you @DragonFire                   

No other way to put it, shocking loss for BG. Probably rivals the 2011 collapse for me. Played with their food up 9 in the 3rd then forgot how to play the final 12 minutes of the game. WC seemed to want it more. Congratulations to the Dragons. 

23 minutes ago, Purple_Reign said:

No other way to put it, shocking loss for BG. Probably rivals the 2011 collapse for me. Played with their food up 9 in the 3rd then forgot how to play the final 12 minutes of the game. WC seemed to want it more. Congratulations to the Dragons. 

It was eerily similar to last year’s region final game, just roles reversed. 

17 minutes ago, Purple_Reign said:

No other way to put it, shocking loss for BG. Probably rivals the 2011 collapse for me. Played with their food up 9 in the 3rd then forgot how to play the final 12 minutes of the game. WC seemed to want it more. Congratulations to the Dragons. 

Certainly the difference between this one and 2011 is that 2011, those teams were equals.  This Purple team was definitely the better team.  2011 was bitter because of the position they'd worked themselves into with the lead, and it was a sudden gut punch.  Given how they'd played for three quarters, it was surprising that they got tight there in the fourth, but it really was similar to how Central got tight last year.  Central controlled that whole game, then shot an ill-advised three up nine, BG cut it to six, and then you could just feel things shift.  Just a couple of balls didn't bounce their way and suddenly they're in a tight game, and I think they had probably already started to think they were on their way to state before that.  It's hard to get back to mentally right.

I feel for BG, in as much as I can given the rival status and what it meant for my team to win.  I know it is not easy to have won the first three and to really know you were the better team.  Elimination games are brutal like that.  We see it every March in the NCAA.  I was really so impressed with the way Bowling Green played before that final quarter.  They did everything I'd expect from a championship team.  After shooting so well from the perimeter, they used that to their advantage and began to work inside with Ritter as Central extended their defense.  But when things got tight, Unseld took over for Central.  They finally got the game they had to have from their star, who had 24 points.  He went 6/7 from three, and I'm fairly certain had 15 points out of their last 27.  He really struggled shooting against the Purples in each of the first three games, but playing on his future homecourt, he got it done. 

On historic notes, this was Warren Central's 19th region title, moving them one ahead of Bowling Green for most region titles.  They first tied Bowling Green for that honor back in 2011, then again in 2013, then again last year.  Finally, they got it done and moved past them.  They've also now won their last six region tournaments made (not quite the feat of the 2002-2007 run due to the gap in between), winning their last 18 region tournament games.  And though I don't give them much of a chance to make a real run due to the draw, hey, they're still technically alive as defending state champs!

Huge fan of Unseld. Great kid and on of the best shooters I have seen in High-School. 

An implosion when they were needed most, hate to see the Purples go out like that especially with the SR class they have. On the other hand you have to tip your hat to the Dragons. Great game and an even better rivalry. 

Coach Unseld and DG both knew this whole season was a 1 game match. I had a sneaking suspicion WC could win it, up until about 2 weeks ago.  I thought BG was just the better team this yr. Color me shocked. 

Well, I thought this would be a 4th quarter game and that BG would pull it out in the 4th quarter.  The first 3 games for these 2 don't usually mean that much in that either "could" win the regional final (just like last year when WC was the better team).  Same was true here.

I certainly felt BG would win a close game here and they had that done through 3, but a big tip of the cap to Warren Central, they never quit and their best player was best when it mattered.

Very tough pill for BG to swallow.  Good luck in the Sweet 16 Warren Central.  Congrats @DragonFire and @BIG BLACK JACK!

2 hours ago, TheBarber said:

Coach Unseld and DG both knew this whole season was a 1 game match. I had a sneaking suspicion WC could win it, up until about 2 weeks ago.  I thought BG was just the better team this yr. Color me shocked. 

I still think BG was and is the better team this season, they just weren't in a 1 game scenario. They were borderline top 10 wire to wire, 29 wins, undefeated in region play prior to last night, wins over 4 teams that advanced to the sweet 16 etc.  Central executed a nice game plan, and when it got tight late BG looked like a team who hasn't done it in a while - because they haven't.  Having seniors who have experienced winning that game, even with little or no PT, makes a difference. Central got arguably Kade's best game of his season going 6/7 from 3 and BG scored just 3 points in the fourth quarter to lose in OT.  Bounce of the ball here or there and maybe it goes the other way.  But you can't take anything away from WC.  They capitalized on BG's naivety and as I said earlier, appeared to want the game more.  

The bounce of the ball here or there is very apt as well.  Bowling Green had I believe three layups in that fourth quarter that just would not go down.  One was right after the three to cut it to five points, where Wardlow made a great cut and got to the rim, it just rolled off.  Mason had quite a few that looked like they were going to be easy and-1 opportunities, but had to settle for just shooting the free throws.