By ST’s Jim Mashek
William Unseld was on the E.A. Diddle Arena floor, enjoying the fruits of his labor.
His Warren Central players were waiting on their towering basketball coach, who seldom shows his gentle side when leading the Dragons.
Kobe Brents and Jaiden Lawrence kept running onto the floor, while their teammates celebrated in the locker room. Warren Central had punched its ticket to the KHSAA Sweet Sixteen, making the state tournament for the third straight year, after a gritty 53-42 victory over arch-rival Bowling Green High School on the WKU campus on March 10.
The 6-foot-8 Unseld got the water bucket treatment as soon as he entered the locker room, and a few days later, more cold water was thrown on the Dragons’ accomplishment.
There would be no Sweet Sixteen trip. The public health crisis surrounding the coronavirus pandemic brought the season to a sudden halt.
“You hate it for the kids,” Unseld said on Thursday. “Most of my guys on this team had experienced (the state tournament) before, last year and the year before that. We had a veteran group of kids. It does seem like a long time ago, right now.”
Unseld’s 11 seniors shared a common purpose, even after losing to Bowling Green on Feb. 28 in the District 14 tournament at South Warren High School.
The Purples grabbed a 2-1 lead in the season series with that victory, and Unseld suggested afterward that he figured the Dragons would get another shot at Derrick Clubb’s BGHS squad in the regional tournament.
They did.
Brents had the hot hand outside and Fourth Region Player of the Year Dre Boyd was brilliant near the basket, and the Dragons never trailed in that memorable game with the Purples. Warren Central was paired with Madisonville-North Hopkins, a team it defeated in last year’s state tournament, but wouldn’t play again until March 18 at Lexington’s Rupp Arena.
Or so they thought.
The coronavirus crisis changed everything.
Unseld had a chance to meet with his players one last time before the schools were closed indefinitely, and he was impressed with their response to a missed opportunity.
“We’re in uncharted territory, that’s for sure,” Unseld said. “You go from a major high to a major downer, in just a few days. We met with the team, and my kids handled it well. They said, ‘Coach, we won our last game.'”
Warren Central finished 26-7 in Unseld’s ninth season as the Dragons’ head coach. They claimed a state tourney berth for the third straight year. They had the Fourth Region Player of the Year in the 6-foot-3 Boyd, who is generating some late interest from college recruiters.
“He’s getting offer after offer,” Unseld said.
Warren Central point guard Tay Smith, Unseld said, has committed to Brescia University, an NAIA school located in Owensboro. For the most part, though, the Dragons were a team of role players, like rebounding specialist Antonio Barbee, daring guard Giovanni Floyd and senior swingman Jessie Wright.
“Your best teams are going to understand,” Unseld said. “They know they don’t have to worry about the points. If we win, everybody’s going to contribute. It was a great group of kids.”
Unseld said he put together a tough schedule to challenge the Dragons in the early going. He might have to take another approach with the 2020-21 squad, which will have plenty of new faces.
Bowling Green, even after Derrick Clubb’s resignation as squad’s head coach earlier this week, figures to be the District 14 favorite next season. The Purples lose just a couple players from their 26-8 team, and Isaiah Mason, Turner Buttry and Connor Cooper will be back in the fold.
“They’ll be the early favorite, at least on paper,” Unseld said. “But our young kids practiced against one of the best teams in the state. Our freshman team went 22-0 and the JV team only lost a couple games.”
Sounds like the Dragons will be ready come November.
