LEXINGTON — Warren Central continued to live up to its hype by eliminating Ashland Blazer during quarterfinal action of the UK HealthCare Boys’ Sweet 16 with a 64-46 victory on Friday.
Three players scored in double figures for the Dragons with Whitney Chappelle leading the way with a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) while Omari Glover added 14 points, and Kade Unseld scored 13 points, and finished with five rebounds.
Warren Central shot 24-of-43 from the floor, and outrebounded the Tomcats, 26-17.
Rheyce Deboard led Ashland with 21 points while Braxton Jennings added 17 points, and Zander Carter scored 14 points. The Tomcats finished shooting 18-of-40 from the floor.
Warren Central raced out to a 5-0 lead, but Ashland responded with a 9-3 run to take a 9-8 edge in the first quarter after a 3-pointer by Carter.
The Dragons responded with a 9-4 run to close out the quarter while taking an 18-13 edge into the second quarter.
Unseld led Warren Central with eight points while Whitney added seven points.
A 3-pointer by the Tomcats’ Deboard cut his team’s deficit to one points (22-21) with 5:21 left, and his two fee throw made the score, 24-23, but the Dragons closed out the first half with a 10-4 run to take a 34-27 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
Whitney, and Unseld led Warren Central with 11 points apiece at halftime while the Dragons hit 12-of-18 shot attempts from the floor.
Deboard led Ashland with 12 points while the Tomcats hit 10-of-19 shot attempts.
Warren Central continued to maintain its lead in the third quarter.
After seeing the Tomcats cut their deficit to 34-31 with 6:02 remaining behind consecutive baskets by Deboard, the Dragons went on an 11-5 run to close out the period while taking a 45-36 lead into the fourth quarter.
Ashland got as close as eight points (50-42) with 3:54 remaining before Warren Central closed the deal, ending the game with a 14-6 run.
