FRANKLIN – Skyelar Potter registered another dominating performance, Micale Mee couldn’t miss a shot, and Warren Central continued to play at a high level in a 73-50 win Friday night at Franklin-Simpson.
The Dragons – who are off to their first 7-0 start since the 2001-02 season – started out a little sloppy and trailed 13-12 after the opening quarter but quickly turned things around in the ensuing period and controlled the game from there on out.
“It was our fourth game in six days and (Franklin-Simpson) slowed it down a little bit, but once we figured out what they were doing, we were fine,” Warren Central head coach William Unseld said. “Our experience took over from there. We’re playing pretty good and we’re still not 100 percent healthy yet.”
After being down by one after the first eight minutes of action, Mee scored six straight points to give Central an 18-15 lead early into the second quarter. Mee’s spark led the Dragons on a 13-0 run and put them up by 10 at 31-21 at halftime.
As Potter scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, the senior Mee was just behind him, finishing with 23 points on a hot shooting night.
“We’ve got some really good basketball players – it’s as simple as that,” Unseld said. “Micale is playing unbelievable right now. Skyelar is doing what Skyelar does. Jordan (Cousin) is starting to be really more aggressive. Those guys can really play.”
It took Warren Central a little while to get going, as it committed three consecutive turnovers and couldn’t get into its usual rhythm on both sides of the ball.
The Dragons held a slim 12-6 lead with 1:34 left in the first, but Franklin-Simpson (1-6) closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to maintain all of the momentum early.
“I knew my guys would show up to play,” Franklin-Simpson coach Dee Spencer said. “That’s not been the issue … the issue’s been playing the full 32 minutes. That’s a problem we’ve had. We play like that in the first quarter and then have a let down.”
“We got off to a rough start,” Potter said of the Dragons’ start. “First quarter, we had like eight turnovers – and a lot of those were on passes we were trying to get into the paint. We were just overthrowing ‘em. We just picked it up from there.”
Mee’s 6-0 run of his own that put the Dragons in front at 18-15 before seven straight by Potter made it 25-15. As Potter was already up to 15 points and eight boards at halftime, Mee had only scored six points before breaking loose for 17 in the second half.
Potter said he is happy to see his teammate performing the way he is.
“Oh, great – I’m glad we’re getting that (type of production) out of him,” said Potter.
Warren Central built a 53-28 advantage with 2:38 remaining in the third quarter after a three by Potter. That lead then jumped to 61-32 entering the fourth.
Already with a commanding lead, the Dragons used their bench throughout the final period and secured another victory.
“We’ve got a chance to have a special season,” said Unseld. “I have a great group of kids that play hard and like playing with each other. That’s all I can ask for.”
Senior writer Tyler Mansfield can be reached at mansfield.sportingtimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @_TylerMansfield.
