In their second meeting of the year, District 14 opponents Warren East and Warren Central squared off at Warren East High School Friday night. In their previous battle the Raiders edged out the Dragons 81-75 in overtime for their first victory over Central since 1999, and this time the Dragons looked to redeem themselves.

Warren Central began an evenly matched first quarter scoring right off the tip-off, and then Warren East quickly answered right back on the other end. The Dragons grabbed an early 22-19 advantage to end the first quarter and would lead for the majority of the game.

Pete Winn hit one of his five first half three pointers on the evening to put Central up by twelve points with under four minutes to play in the second quarter. Jon Yates helped bring the Raiders back within five points at halftime by hitting a three pointer in back to back possessions and scoring eight points within the last two minutes.

The Dragons came out strong again in the second half and stretched their lead back to eleven points with 2:23 left in the third quarter. The Raiders found themselves down 54-48 to start the fourth quarter which featured an intense battle and a very hot Warren East squad.

With 2:19 left the Raiders finally gained the lead 66-65 as their home crowd gave them a standing ovation. With 42 seconds left Winn got a steal and drove in for a layup to bring his team within two points. The Dragons immediately got another turnover forcing a jumpball and sent Al Thompson to the line with a chance to tie the game. Thompson hit one free throw but was unable to hit the second. Jordan Ellis got the rebound and got fouled and hit both of his free throws to put East up 73-70.

On the defensive end, Jon Yates came up with a huge block on a three point attempt by the Dragons. Deangelo Kirk sealed the game for East with two free throws. "The difference in the game was leadership on the floor late in the third quarter and early part of the fourth quarter," said coach Russell Malone. "Our seniors stepped up defensively and had several key stops, and came down on the offensive end and executed several of our set plays to a science."

Warren East scored 27 points in the final quarter on their way to a 75-72 victory led by Shenard Holton with 20 points and Jordan Ellis with 15 of his own. Pete Winn paced the Dragons with 27 points and Scooter Lightfoot added 13. Warren East improved to 8-2 in the region and 3-1 in the district while Central dropped to 2-3 in the region and 1-2 in district.

Warren East will travel to Muhlenberg South on Tuesday the 22nd, and Warren Central will have a very tough game at Barren County on the same night.