Warren East's Meghan Enriquez looks for an out against Warren Central's Jharon Satterfield during their game Friday Feb. 3, 2012 at Warren Central High School. (Photo by Miranda PedesonDaily News)

Warren Central made a statement Friday night – at least in the mind of senior Donovan Halsel.

Halsel scored 17 in the host Dragons’ 68-51 win over Warren East, and Central (17-7, 5-2) moved into a tie for second place in the District 14 standings.

Halsel and his teammates outscored the Raiders (12-9, 1-5 District 14) by 10 in the third quarter and pulled away. The win completed a season sweep by WCHS after a 62-58 win Jan. 6.

“Last game they thought they could play with us and they tried to make a statement, thinking they could win the region,” Halsel said. “We tried to come out here and prove a point.”

The Raiders trailed by seven at the half but lost the final 16 minutes 33-17. East shot 7-for-23 in the second half and 17-for-48 for the game, but coach Casey Simpson said the lack of offense wasn’t his team’s only problem.

“Nah, it was more than that,” he said. “They just kicked our tails up and down the court.”

The Dragons asserted themselves on the boards, and that’s where their big run started. Nay Walker’s and-one opportunity made it 40-30 early in the third and Andre Bledsoe’s putback made it 42-30.

Halsel hit a runner at 44-30 and a Halsel floater from the baseline plus a foul increased the lead to 49-34.

That lead reached 23 in the fourth after a Bledsoe putback and foul at 55-34, and although Bledsoe missed his free throw, Halsel was there to put it back and make it 57-34.

“Rebounding was a big part of the game,” Simpson said. “The way Warren Central plays is just so physical in their press. I think we shot 10 free throws. It’s hard to overcome, especially on the road. But I was proud of my young kids.”

Central owned the first quarter and scored three seconds in, after Byron Carver took the opening tip straight to the hole.

Walker hit a 3 from the left to make it 9-4 and a Halsel in-and-out runner made it 11-4. A Bledsoe putback just before the buzzer gave the Dragons an 18-8 lead.

East got down by as many as 15 in the second quarter when Carver laid in an easy shot off a nice dish from Halsel on the fast break.

Looking for an answer offensively, Simpson went to his bench and found Brandon Walker, who made the first four of his five shots and scored 10 in the period.

His 3 from left corner drew the Raiders within nine at 31-22 and his pull-up jumper in the lane made it 31-24.

East was looking at a five-point deficit going into the locker room, but Rondell Green’s steal and layup under the basket just before the horn gave WCHS a 35-28 advantage at the break.

The Raiders turned the ball over 20 times and were outrebounded 38-21.

“Before we came out before the game, we said we had to dominate the glass,” Halsel said. “That’s where we get our momentum from, getting rebounds and getting it out.”

Nay Walker and Carver each added 11 for Central, Bledsoe finished with 10 and eight rebounds, and Rondell Green scored 10. Brandon Walker poured in 17 off the bench and Dalton Whitney had 10 for Warren East. Adarius Barnett scored one point.

Central travels to Franklin-Simpson on Tuesday. East will play at Ballard Memorial at 6 p.m. tonight.

WEHS —    8    20    6    17 – 51

WCHS —    18    17    16    17 – 68

WEHS — Walker 17, Whitney 10, J. Barnett 6, Wheeler 5, Stockton 4, Dunn 3, Bryant 2, Duncan 2, A. Barnett 1, Lee 1.

WCHS — Halsel 17, Carver 11, Walker 11, Bledsoe 10, Green 10, Tallent 3, Edwards 2, Hall 2, Porter 2.

Lady Dragons 58, Lady Raiders 34

Warren Central pulled away from Warren East thanks to a 21-3 third quarter Friday at WCHS.

Tia Barnett had nine in the period on three 3s for the Lady Dragons (12-11, 4-3 District 14). East made three field goals in the second half and finished with 31 turnovers. The Lady Raiders (2-23, 1-6 District 14) made three free throws in the third quarter.

Tierra Rigsby’s layup to make it 28-22 got WCHS rolling. An Angel Hill layup made it 32-23, Barnett’s first 3 made it 35-23 and a Noochie Patterson baseline jumper from the left side pushed the advantage to 38-23.

Jasmine Ray swished a baseline jumper of her own and Barnett buried back-to-back triples to increase the lead to 47-24 at the end of the frame.

The Lady Raiders led once at 3-2, but Central went on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good.

It started with a Rigsby 3, followed by a Hill steal and layup, a Lariah Stockton putback and a Nitaya Walker 3 from the right side.

East ended the quarter on an 8-0 run of its own, but had as many turnovers – 10 – as first-quarter points.

The Lady Dragons led by as many as nine in the second quarter after Hill put back her own miss at 22-13, but WEHS came back once again and was within four after a Justice Martin three-point play and then single free throw one possession later to make it 24-20.

Barnett finished with 11 while Rigsby led all scorers with 14. Stockton pulled down eight rebounds.

Martin scored 16 for WEHS.

WEHS —    10    11    3    10 – 34

WCHS —    13    13    21    11 – 58

WEHS — Martin 16, Young 7, Renfro 4, Enriquez 2, Hawkins 2, Parker 2, Duncan 1.

WCHS — Rigsby 14, Barnett 11, Hill 9, Patterson 6, Walker 6, Stockton 4, Ray 3, Halsel 2, Holley 2, Lasley 1.