It’ll be Warren Central and Bowling Green colliding for the Region 4 title yet again.
For the second consecutive season and the ninth time overall since 2003, the longtime rivals will meet at 6 p.m. Saturday for the regional championship and a trip to next week’s Whitaker Bank/KHSAA Boys’ Sweet Sixteen Tournament at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
While BGHS advanced to the regional final with a 51-38 win over Clinton County, the Dragons defeated Logan County, 93-77, on Friday night in the semifinal round at E.A. Diddle Arena.
“These guys have had a great two days of practice,” Warren Central coach William Unseld said. “We’ve been focused. They’re working and kind of have their little groove right now. We played well for the most part. It was enough to win the basketball game.”
Warren Central (19-11) built a 26-17 lead after the opening quarter and pushed its advantage to 43-29 at halftime. The Dragons stretched their lead to 65-51 after the third and were able to cruise through the final period en route to the victory.
Tayshaun Bibb finished with 22 points and six rebounds to lead Warren Central, while Kobe Brents scored 19 points and Dre Boyd added 13 points and eight rebounds.
“We know if we just rebound the ball, teams are gonna have a hard time to play with us,” Bibb said. “We knew if we just rebounded and guarded and moved the ball on offense we had a good chance of winning the game. That’s what we did.”
The Dragons shot 31-of-55 (56.4 percent) from the field and finished with an 18-6 advantage in second chance points. Defensively, Warren Central forced 10 turnovers and held Logan County to 53.6 shooting on the night.
“We shot the ball well. We made a lot of shots that we missed the other night,” Unseld said. “We made a lot of those shots around the rim that kind of rolled out on us the other night. When we shoot it well, we can beat a whole lot of people – and when we don’t, we can get beat by a whole lot of people.”
Kelby Epley led Logan County (25-7) with 22 points, while Anthony Woodard finished with 16 in the Cougars’ season-ending defeat.
“Heck of a year,” Logan County coach John Tinsley said. “25-win season … I mean, wow. I never dreamed that we would win 25 ball games. We worked extremely hard. My staff was unbelievable. I wanna give credit to everybody – I don’t want to give no credit to me. I’m just here for the ride.”
LCHS – 17 12 22 26 — 77
WCHS – 26 17 28 22 — 93
LC – Epley 22, Woodard 16, Thompson 13, Bell 10, Hardison 6, Powell 6, Krohn 4.
WC – Bibb 22, Brents 19, Boyd 13, Barbee 9, Horn 6, Barber 5, Lawrence 5, Muleka 5, Floyd 4, Nishimwe 2, Smith 2, Pillow 1.
