Bowling Green 61 Warren Central 59 (14th District Championship)

[DragonFire]

Braylon Banks knocks down a three pointer with 3 seconds remaining after an offensive rebound by the Purples, giving Bowling Green the district title, their second in a row, and tenth in 12 years.

The Purples led some early, taking their largest lead of the game at 7-4, before the Dragons moved in front and maintained a lead most of the night.  Central would lead by as many as 13, at 36-23, but critically, 6'6" forward Jarek Kirk picked up his third foul with a little more than 2:30 left in the first half, and his absence helped key a 7-0 run by the Purples to close the half.  In the third quarter, the Dragons quickly got back to a nine point lead, but the Purples closed it all the way and then some, taking a 49-48 lead before Dominique Anthony's layup put Central back in front 50-49 after three.  Kirk picked up his fourth foul in the quarter on a charge, and his defensive absence proved to be big.  In the fourth Central got out to a six point lead at 57-51 with just over five minutes left, but Bowling Green used a 7-0 run to move in front.  Anthony scored again to put Central back up 59-58, and after a miss by Bowling Green, Central had the ball and the lead with 1:20 left.  This is a situation Central is well acquainted with, and they went into their usual clock killing.  Bowling Green had a foul to give and could be aggressive prior to fouling to send Central to the line.  It turned out, they never had to.  Central escaped a trap in front of their bench, passing to McCombs, who had a wide open half of the floor to drive in.  He met Joseph Hurt who left Jarek Kirk to guard him.  McCombs tried to pass around Hurt for an easy assist, but Hurt got the steal instead.  Bowling Green brought it up the floor, bled around 25 seconds, and then called timeout, setting up the final sequence.  After Bowling Green took the lead, Hulbert did have a good look from about four feet past midcourt - the bank his the left side of the rim on the inside of the cylinder, but had so much speed it rimmed out immediately.

The win means no one enters the region tournament with an unbeaten region slate - Warren Central was the last.  Editorializing, it really doesn't change my opinion of what is to come.  It will still almost certainly be Warren Central and Bowling Green in the final, and I think my pick would still be Warren Central, but we know now that Bowling Green can definitely come out on top.

[Purple88]

Good win!  Warren Central is a dynamite team and likely better than BG this season. But the best team doesn’t always win (ask BGs 2024 team). 
I would agree with DFs predictions, but have to like BGs confidence boost here tonight. Great Bball rivalry.