Another year, another District 14 title for Bowling Green.
The Purples – seeded No. 1 in this season’s District 14 Tournament – defeated longtime rival Warren Central 57-49 on Thursday evening at Warren East High School to win their sixth consecutive district championship.
“I just wanted to carry on the tradition that the school set for us,” Bowling Green sophomore guard Conner Cooper said. “It’s a lot of pressure, but we take it – and we run with it. We just took advantage of it tonight.”
Bowling Green (24-5) led 17-12 after the opening quarter and held a tight 28-26 lead at halftime. Warren Central outscored the Purples by a point in the third to keep things close, but BGHS put together a dominant final period, which included it outscoring the Dragons 18-11, to come out on top.
Cooper led the way for the Purples with 17 points, while Turner Buttry finished with 10 and Cobi Huddleston added nine.
“It’s great,” Butty said of the title-clinching victory. “This is what we’ve been working for all year, so it’s great to get this and see all of our hard work pay off.”
Kobe Brents finished with 18 points to lead the Dragons (17-11).
Bowling Green and Warren Central now turn their attention to the Region 4 Tournament, which begins Sunday at WKU’s E.A. Diddle Arena. The draw will be held Saturday morning to determine opening-round matchups.
“I hope people come watch it,” Bowling Green coach Derrick Clubb said in regard to the regional tournament. “There’s eight really good basketball teams, a lot of good players.
“But this is the way it should be – there shouldn’t be long gaps in-between games. Basketball’s not like a lot of other sports. All these coaches, we’re ready to keep playing. A day or two of practice and let’s go.”
Bowling Green played a solid first quarter, quickly building a 7-2 lead out of the gate. Warren Central responded – and a 3-pointer from Tre Pillow at the 2:22 mark brought it within 11-10 – but the Purples then put together a 6-0 run before being up 17-12 after eight minutes of action.
The Dragons opened the ensuing period with six straight points –highlighted by a Jamale Barber triple – to cut Bowling Green’s lead down to 20-18, and that led to a competitive, back-and-forth quarter. A bucket from Brents put Central up 22-21 at the 4:47 mark, but Buttry later hit a 3 to make it 28-24 Bowling Green.
Brents closed the half with a pair of free throws, but the Purples took a 28-26 advantage into the break.
“We’re capable of putting some runs together,” Clubb said. “I still think we shot the ball better than we have been lately. As long as we stay aggressive and we get stops, then we can put those little nice runs together.”
Dre Boyd’s and-one helped Warren Central tie it at 33-all at the 3:14 mark of the third quarter, and back-to-back scores from Bowling Green’s Trace Flanery once again evened the scoreboard at 37-all soon after.
A basket from Boyd with 1:01 left in the quarter cut the Dragons’ deficit to 39-38 entering the fourth.
“I think I counted three times we got the lead and never could extend it,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “We never extended it. It went down to getting key stops, key rebounds. They wanted it more than we did. Late in that fourth quarter, they went and got every rebound and we kind of stood and watched.
“Those types of small differences.”
Brents’ free throws put Warren Central up 44-43 at the 5:43 mark of the final period, but the Purples fired back with a 6-0 run to take a 50-44 lead with 2:25 remaining. While the Dragons only managed to score five more points in that stretch, Bowling Green knocked down seven clutch free throws to seal it.
“This is big. It just sets the standard for us,” Cooper said. “It shows us we can do whatever we want if we work hard, grind hard and come out to play every night.”
Warren Central – 12 14 12 11 — 49
Bowling Green – 17 11 11 18 — 57
WCHS – Brents 18, Boyd 17, Bibb 6, Pillow 3, Barber 3, Horn 2.
BGHS – Cooper 17, Buttry 10, Huddleston 9, Dingle 8, Flanery 4, Gray 3, Drobocky 2, Mason 2, Wardlow 2.
