By Jim Mashek – Sporting Times Reporter
It didn’t take long before the obvious settled in.
Warren East just couldn’t match up with the deep, talented Bowling Green High School Purples, last year’s 4th Region runner-up.
Isaiah Mason scored 24 points, all in the first half, as Bowling Green cruised to a 75-36 victory over the Raiders, who were making their season debut nearly halfway into January.
Bowling Green remained unbeaten in four games, and they’re missing a handful of key players, including senior guard Conner Cooper and senior forward Jacobi Huddleston.
“Tonight, we played a team that was playing their first game,” BGHS coach D.G. Sherrill said, “and by the beginning of the second quarter, that started to show. We have a lot of respect for Coach (Brandon) Combs and his program; I’ve worked with Brandon and he’s done a great job at Warren East.
“There’s no substitute for game reps.”
Combs, the veteran Warren East coach, said his team is looking forward to getting on the practice floor before its next game on Saturday against Glasgow.
“We haven’t had but three days of practice so far,” Combs said. “The thing about Bowling Green is they do such a great job of moving the basketball. And they’re long, defensively, so they force a lot of shots from the perimeter.
“That leads to a lot of long rebounds, and you can see where (the Purples) go from there.”
Mason, who has signed with Northern Kentucky University, was all over the floor in the early going. He hit a lot of shots near the basket, and had plenty of help underneath from 6-foot-4 senior forward Jordan Dingle.
“We’re still finding out who we are,” Mason said.
Dingle, who will be playing college football at the University of Kentucky next fall, helped the Purples maintain a comfortable margin over East. Bowling Green led 29-12 after one quarter and took a 53-19 lead into the locker room at the break.
“With this team, I feel like the sky’s the limit,” Dingle said. “When Conner and Jacobi and the other guys get back, we’ll be loaded out there. You’ve got to look at yourself, to see what you can do.”
Sherrill, for one, is pleased with Dingle’s improvement since he helped the Purples win the KHSAA Class 5A state football championship.
“Every game Jordan plays, he just gets better,” Sherrill said. “His timing, his rhythm, his ability to shoot the basketball. He’s such a great teammate, a real mentor to our younger kids.”
Junior point guard Turner Buttry had 17 points for the Purples, while DIngle finished with 12. Sophomore forward Isaiah Andrews led Warren East with 11 points.
Mason and the Purples will now turn their attention to archrival Warren Central, which slipped past BGHS 53-42 in last year’s 4th Region championship game at E.A. Diddle Arena in March.
Friday night’s game with Warren Central will be the Purples’ fifth consecutive road test — “we’re road warriors,” Sherrill said with a grin — before Bowling Green makes its home debut against Paul Laurence Dunbar High School on Saturday.
Warren East’s girls squad will play host to Bowling Green, last year’s 4th Region champion, on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
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