Warren Central 76 - Russellville 61

Warren Central High School, Bowling Green, Kentucky

By J. Trace Kirkwood

When the High School Zone magazine polled Fourth Region coaches last fall most of them picked Russellville and Warren Central as the two best teams in the region. So, I marked this game on my calender as a "must attend" before the first games were played this season. As of Tuesday night other teams in the region sported gaudy win loss records, while the two pre-season favorites each stood at 8-3. One must dig a little further into their schedules to understand how Russellville and Warren Central arrived at those records. Two of the three Central losses were at the hand Christian County, and both games were played in Hopkinsville. Central's other loss was against Liberty Tech, a team from Tennessee.

Russellville had a rough road in the Arby's Classic in McCreary County, dropping three of four games. One loss was a heartbreaking 42-41 loss to Wayne County.

I sort of picked Warren Central to win this game before they tipped the ball up because Russellville was on the road and hasn't played as tough of a schedule as the Dragons.

I've always been impressed with Central's explosiveness. Even last year when they were down a bit, they still had an explosive quality and could put up points in spurts that left their opponents stunned. This season is no different except that the Dragons are much improved on what was an already good basketball team. In the first quarter, they doubled up Russellville before the Panthers knew what hit them. They had a 15-7 lead, and Panther Coach Dennis Pardue called a timeout with 3:12 left in the quarter to break the Dragons' momentum and to give his team a breather.

It worked. Russellville played them even with good guard play from Elam and Quarles (I cannot find a Russellville roster anywhere, so I apologize for not having names). Central used a balance attack of Pete Winn, Jordan Shanklin, and Scooter Lightfoot to post 25 points and a eight point lead at the end of the first. George Fant, a sophomore center for the Dragons and who is already attracting the attention of WKU, did not start the game but played a considerable amount throughout the game.

I wonder if Coach Tim Riley walks around thinking "Win with Winn." It sounds like a political slogan, and the Dragons are on a campaign to win their seventh Fourth Region crown in eight years, then they need to keep that slogan in mind. Win with Winn. Pete Winn plays guard for Warren Central and handles the ball against any kind of defensive pressure, but Winn also finds many different ways to score. He can shoot from the perimeter. He can slash to the basket. He can rebound and post in the paint. He always finds a way to put the ball in the basket. Winn is possibly one of the most underated players in the Commonwealth. I've always enjoyed watching him play.

Winn was hot in the first two quarters, and it was his play that allowed Central to maintain a seven point lead on a determined Russellville team. The two teams scored 14 points a piece in the second quarter and went to halftime with the Dragons up 39-32.

I hope I don't sound like a broken record because I know I've written this before: Warren Central wears down its opponents. They press the entire game, unless they are absolutely thrashing a weak team. Coach Riley doesn't use his press to force teams into a bunch of turnovers, although it often results in that. He uses the press in the same manner uses B-52's to carpet bomb an enemy. It is designed to break their will to fight or in the case of the Warren Central basketball to break their will to play ball.

His press works because his players give him 110% percent effort on the defensive side of the game, and they are always where they should be in a no-frills 2-2-1 press that swarms the inbounds pass. Teams better find a way to go over this press because if they putter a little five foot pass to a guard, Central is going to pin him down on the baseline -- the wrong baseline.

By the end of the third quarter, Russellville looked tired and played tired. They're a good team, but they were broken and frustrated at this point in the game. Also, the Panthers had a miserable night shooting. They couldn't hit the Earth if they were dropping basketballs out of a hot air balloon. Terrible. Warren Central led 56-41 at the end of three.

Twice in the fourth quarter the Dragons opened up 18 point leads on the Panthers. They backed off a little bit, and Coach Riley even put in his second team. Russellville made a little run, and Riley brought his "A" team off the bench, and they responded like firefighters, dousing a little blaze coming from the Panther bench.

Shemarkus Wells (c.s.) provided the highlight of the fourth quarter. Late in the game, he took the ball to the rack and dunked it two handed in traffic. The officials called a technical on him for hanging on the rim. I guess a case could be made for him needing to hang to protect himself. I don't know. It was a nice play, though, and it brought the fading crowd to life. It was the perfect punctuation mark for the ballgame.

Central won 76-61 and ran their record to 9-3 and 1-0 in the region. Russellville is now 2-1 in the Fourth. These two will tangle in post season. I just sense it. I've always believed that in the basketball adage "Guards win championships." These two teams have great guard play.

OBSERVATIONS

When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie: That's amore'. Warren Central does a halftime promotion that I love. If you pay a dollar, you can take a three point shot to win a free pizza from Minit Mart. They get people shooting baskets at both ends of the court and the fans jeer and cheer as others try their hand on the hardwood. One boy kept paying a dollar and missing his shot. I saw him pay four times. I wanted to say something to him because pizzas at Minit Mart are only $5.99. At one point this summer, I thought it was going to be cheaper to buy a pizza than to put a gallon of gas in my truck. I wonder if the boy realized he had nearly paid for a pizza before he gave up. Also, a Russellville cheeleader paid her dollar and swished a three. James Brandenburg from WBKO paid his buck and took a shot. He was off the mark. Hey, JB, you need a pizza about as much as I do. You and I need to do the same thing -- put a dollar towards a gym membership.

I loved Dean Martin.

Fant-om Menace: George Fant did not start. I'm not sure if he starts at all. He's a good basketball player, and I believe that WKU has already offered him a scholarship. Other Division-I programs are sniffing around the gym at Warren Central. Fant has muscled up some from last season, and he has a quick move to the basket when he wants to have one. He also rebounds well. At first, I thought Central didn't feed him the ball enough, but when a team has Jordan Shanklin, Pete Winn, and Scooter Lightfoot on the perimeter, it doesn't need to punch the ball in the middle too much. Fant draws double teams and Central compensates by passing over the cluster around him to someone attacking the basket on the weak side.

Respect the Dragon: Fourth Region teams better watch out for this fire breathing lizard on Morgantown Road. They will be a handful late in the winter.