Warren Central rallies again, downs CovCath for Sweet 16 finals berth
If there are any lessons to be taken from this year’s KHSAA Sweet 16, let it be this: count out the boys of Warren Central at your own peril. For the third straight day, the No. 5 Dragons faced an early deficit; and for the third straight day, they surged back late to prevail and move on. This time, the end result was a dramatic 61-58 victory over third-ranked Covington Catholic that sent Warren Central on to the state championship for the first time in 17 years.
With just one more win separating his team from the history books, Dragons coach William Unseld is ready for them to start getting the respect they’ve earned.
“I think everybody’s starting to see how tough we are,” Unseld said after the game. “Getting down is not big for them. They’re gonna fight you for 32 minutes.”
And fight they did on Saturday afternoon: Warren Central trailed by nine points at the half, thanks in large part to a spectacular 22-point effort from Catholic’s do-it-all junior guard Evan Ipsaro in the first two quarters. But they battled back after halftime, just as they did in the opening round against Male and again vs. Murray in the quarterfinals. Junior forward Chappelle Whitney scored 17 of his 21 points after the intermission, going to work against the Colonels’ vaunted frontcourt. He made four consecutive shots in the paint to close out the third quarter, tying the score at 43-all on the last.
In the fourth quarter, the game followed an eerily similar script for the Dragons as Friday night’s quarterfinal win. Ipsaro and the Colonels fought back to take the lead on several occasions, but Warren Central answered each time. They went back in front 53-52 on a corner three by Whitney — his first of the game — and took advantage of opportunities at the free-throw line down the stretch.
In the end, CovCath had one final shot at forcing overtime, down three with the ball and 11 seconds left on the clock. Ipsaro got a clean look to tie the game, but it bounced left off the rim. The rebound found its way to sophomore Brady Hussey in the corner, but his shot came up short too as time expired.
Despite the disappointing finish, it was a brilliant bounce-back performance by Ipsaro, who tweaked his ankle in Friday night’s win over Lyon County. He finished the game with 30 points and a team-high total of 64 over their three-game run in Rupp Arena this week. He’ll return to lead to Colonels next year as they seek to defend their latest 9th Region title.
“I thought our kids played their hearts out,” said Covington Catholic coach Scott Ruthzatz in the postgame presser. “It can happen that fast in this game. That’s how quick it can go.”
The Dragons were able to hold Ipsaro and sharp-shooting junior Kascyl McGillis to a combined 4-14 from the field in the second half, with just one made triple between them. Meanwhile, they got strong performances from Whitney and senior guard Jaiden Lawrence (15 points, 3-6 from outside) en route to victory. As a team, they shot 50% from the field with an efficient 7-13 three-point clip.
Warren Central will face top-seeded George Rogers Clark at 7 p.m. for the 2022 Kentucky state championship.
Discuss This Article
Comments have moved.
Join the conversation and talk about this article and all things Kentucky Sports in the new KSR Message Board.
KSBoard