It isn’t how you start, it’s how you finish.
That was most certainly Bowling Green’s motto on Friday night, as it overcame a rough start and completely turned things around to earn a marquee 66-57 win over Warren Central in front of an over-capacitated crowd at Tim Riley Court, avenging the Jan. 12 loss to its longtime rival.
“I thought we played much better defensively tonight. I thought that was the key,” Bowling Green coach Derrick Clubb said. “We still didn’t start the game how we needed to and gave them a little bit of a lead, but I was really proud of how we battled in that second quarter.”
Warren Central played nearly perfect in the first quarter, and it seemed that the Dragons were going to take total control early.
Then, here came Bowling Green.
After being held to just six points in the opening period, the Purples stole all of the momentum in the second quarter and outscored the Dragons 23-4 to take a 29-20 lead into locker room at halftime. Bowling Green held Warren Central without a field goal for the final 6:37 of the second and closed it on a 21-2 run.
“Our guys that came in off the bench had great energy,” Clubb said. “Davion (Dice), Jaylen (Wardlow), Kolbe Gray. I thought Ziyon Kenner was great tonight. He really controlled the game when the ball was in his hands. He drove it when he needed to and moved the ball a lot. I thought when we subbed, those guys came in with great energy.”
Kenner led the Purples (15-7, 5-1 District 14) with 19 points, while Dice finished with 12. Skyelar Potter carried the Dragons (18-3, 5-1) with a game-high 25 points and nine boards and Jordan Cousin added 19 and seven, as they suffered their first loss since Dec. 23 and their first district defeat of the season.
“I just let the game come to me,” Kenner said. “I don’t try to force anything, and when I play good, my team plays well. I’m the point guard, so I’ve gotta control everything. I think I did pretty good tonight.”
It was all Warren Central early.
The Dragons jumped out to a 9-2 lead, as Potter already had five points, including a powerful slam dunk off a steal. Bowling Green responded and cut its deficit to 9-6, but just before the Dragons put together a 7-0 run to close the first up 16-6.
“Skyelar’s really good. It’s hard to keep him from taking shots,” Clubb said. “You just want to make them all tough, and I thought we did some good (defensive) things on him. He’s a good player. We were fortunate tonight that towards the end of the game he was probably a little tired and didn’t make as many as he did in the beginning.”
Bowling Green stormed right back in the second and took Central completely out of its rhythm.
Trailing by 10, Dice scored six points and Isaiah Mason hit a three to put the Purples in front by a point at 19-18. Warren Central was down 23-20 with 1:43 left in the quarter, but Bowling Green closed it on a 6-0 run to lead 29-20 at the break.
Bowling Green pushed its lead to 36-22 after Key converted an and-one, but just before Potter recorded an and-one of his own and Micale Mee scored inside to cut the Dragons’ deficit to 36-27 at the 4:57 mark of the third.
The Purples answered with a quick 5-0 run – highlighted by a Trevor Dennis three – to take a 41-27 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the quarter. Bowling Green then went up 47-30 and took a 47-32 advantage into the fourth.
“We just settled the game down and played better defense and played how we wanted to play, not how they wanted to play,” said Kenner. “Once we did that, we was comfortable and able to play really well.”
Warren Central got within 10 at 49-39 with 4:51 left, but the Purples then went up 53-39 at the four-minute mark. Cousin splashed a triple to bring the scoreboard back to 10, and then converted an-and one to bring the Dragons to within single digits at 55-46 with 3:00 remaining.
Tashaun Bibb scored four straight to trim Bowling Green’s lead to 57-50 with 1:39 left, but Kenner’s layup and pair of free throws put the Purples back up double digits and they were able to record a big-time district road victory.
“We wanted to do this the right way and not cause chaos on the floor after we won and shake hands, and then go the locker room and celebrate,” said Kenner.
Bowling Green returns to action Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. at South Warren, while Warren Central hosts Taylor County on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
“Anytime you get a road district win, it’s big,” said Clubb. “We look at them the same. We’ve had two good weeks of practice since then and the kids really bought into what we were trying to do tonight. I thought they executed the game plan and I thought they played really hard tonight.
“This was big for us.”
Girls: Bowling Green 75, Warren Central 39
Bowling Green has been pretty dominant in District 14 games this season.
Entering Friday’s matchup at Warren Central with just one district loss, the Lady Purples looked to continue improving their District 14 record. Behind a game-high 32 points and nine rebounds from senior Keely Morrow, Bowling Green (13-8, 5-1 District 14) won 75-39 for its third straight district victory and fourth win overall.
The Lady Purples controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish and never allowed Warren Central (2-20, 0-6) to ever get into a rhythm. The Lady Dragons were able to keep their deficit within single digits after the opening quarter, but a rough second period put Bowling Green in front for good.
Along with Morrow’s big outing, T’Alla Brown scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Shalyn Whitson added 10 points and six boards. Saniyah Shelton carried Warren Central with 15 points.
Bowling Green returns to action Tuesday at South Warren at 6 p.m. Warren Central plays at Ohio County at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Leading 15-7 at the start of the second quarter, Bowling Green pushed its advantage to 22-9 after a three by Morrow at the 4:36 mark. Seven more points by the Lipscomb signee helped the Lady Purples build a 29-11 lead.
Bowling Green was up 40-15 at halftime and took a 59-30 lead with 6:44 remaining in the game. From that point on, the Lady Purples were able to cruise to a road victory.
Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @_TylerMansfield.
