For the eighth time in the last nine years, and 13th time in the last 17 years, it will be an all-14th District final.  Warren Central is into their 26th region final, second most in the region behind Bowling Green.  South Warren is into their first, in their first region tournament ever.  They are attempting to complete a feat much like Warren Central did.  Central failed to make the region tournament for their first 13 years as a program, but won in their first trip.  South Warren missed the first 15 years as a program, and will attempt to climb the mountain.  

This is the fourth meeting of the year between the two teams, but the first on a neutral court.  Warren Central won all three previous meetings, by 14 at South Warren, and 25 and 24 at Warren Central, the latter coming in the district finals. This is just the third neutral court meeting between the two, and the first since the 2014 14th District Semifinals, a 55-51 Warren Central victory.  Warren Central carries a 35-1 all-time record against South Warren, having won the previous 17 matchups.

Taken in totality, it's a pretty bleak outlook for the final.  South Warren can look to the 1994 14th District semifinals for inspiration. Warren Central entered in the top ten in the state against Greenwood, having never lost to Greenwood before.  But the Gators pulled the massive upset, ending the Dragon dream prematurely.

As for this year, South Warren has yet to top 55 points against the Dragons, and Central has not allowed more than 52 points since a 65-59 loss to North Hardin.  The Central defense has been dialed in ever since, holding four of their last five opponents to fewer than 40 points, and the fifth was the 46 they allowed to South Warren in the district finals.  South Warren is going to have to win a low scoring game almost certainly.  In the district finals, they managed to hold Central down until late in the third when an offensive outburst broke the game open.  

Can South Warren overcome and continue a fairy tale run, reaching the 20 win plateau for the second time ever and winning their first region title? Or will the Warren Central machine keep on grinding to their 20th region title, and fourth win this season over the Spartans?

Warren Central advances to Rupp.

Warren Central up 12-2 at 3:49 mark of 1st.

Warren Central up 16-6 at end of first.  They’ve led by as many as 12 and have not trailed.

Warren Central up 16-9, 6:09 2nd. Dragons have gone cold. 

Warren Central leads 26-13 at the half.  Prince nailed a deep three at the buzzer.  The pace has been to South’s style, but almost all of their points have been in transition. 

34-13 Warren Central at 4:30 of 3rd.  Dragons on 11-0 run.

37-18 Warren Central w 3:02 left in the 3rd.

Warren Central leads 46-22 after three.  Eight minutes away

Warren Central up 53-36 with 3:09 remaining

55-38 Warren Central final

Usually a lot for me to do following a region final, so apologies for not really helping fill in details following the game!

Honestly, there wasn't a tremendous amount of suspense in this one.  Like the Barren County game, Central jumped out to a quick lead, getting up 7-0 and as much as 16-4 in the first quarter.  Unlike the Barren County game, the second quarter wasn't the devastating KO, essentially ending the game.  South managed to cut the lead to as few as 7 in the second, as Central went cold.  But there was a devastating punch South Warren had to absorb that may have been the beginning of a TKO.  Central scored on a lob to Armani Byrd (that he just barely couldn't dunk but dropped in) to make it 23-13 with 50 seconds left in the second.  South Warren then attempted to hold the ball for the final shot of the half.  Central was content to let them, and Perkins dribbled it down to 12 seconds out near midcourt before driving into the lane and putting up a shot with 8 seconds left, coming off short and off the side of the rim.  McCombs pulled down the rebound for Central, pushed it up to Kaleb Prince, who drilled his third three of the first half from the right wing, about 4 feet beyond the college three point line.  That made the lead 26-13 going into the break, and the Central run would eventually reach 13-0 before South Warren would score again, just before the 4 minute mark of the third.  In all, South Warren went five minutes without a point, and were down 21 by the time they broke that.  They would never get closer than 15 again, and trailed by as many as 24.

It ultimately was Warren Central's largest margin of victory in a region final since the 2006 finals against Metcalfe County, and they held South Warren to the lowest point total by a region finalist since Warren East managed only 31 in 1984.  Central held every opponent below 40 points during the tournament.  Just a defensive masterclass.

The Dragons placed four on the all-tournament team: Anthony, Byrd, Johnson, and Prince.  South Warren had three selections: Decker, Perkins, and Shively.  

For Central it was the seventh region title in the last nine years, and their 20th overall, most by any program in their region.