OIL CITY - When it needed them, Warren got the performances it had to have.
The Dragons trailed early, but bounced back and handed Oil City a 52-47 defeat Saturday at Oil City High School.
"This was a good win for us," said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. "(Oil City) is a tough place to play. Anytime you get a victory on the road against another Class AAA opponent, that's good."
The game was close throughout with each team failing to claim much of an advantage. Berdine felt the momentum shifted in Warren's favor late in the third quarter. Warren held the Oilers scoreless for the last five minutes of the period and turned a three-point deficit into a six-point lead.
Berdine added that Tyler Fantaskey stepped up big in the fourth quarter, connecting on five of six free throws down the stretch.
"This was a good way to regroup after a tough loss on Thursday (at Fort LeBoeuf)," Berdine added.
Fact Box
WARREN (52): Austin Jerman 2 0-0 4, Kyle Papalia 1 0-2 2, Mark Davis 0 0-0 0, Kory Thomas 3 3-4 9, Drew Lobdell 0 0-0 0, Hank Morrison 5 2-3 12, Tyler Fantaskey 1 6-8 8, Preston McMeans 6 5-8 17, Totals: 18 16-25 52
OIL CITY (47): Williams 2 3-6 7, N. Davis 5 3-3 16, Yarnell 2 1-2 5, Zimoski 4 0-0 8, Hadley 2 2-2 6, Lantz 2 1-2 5, Totals: 17 10-15 47
Warren 12 8 14 18 - 52
Oil City 14 7 7 19 - 47
3-pointers: W-None; O- Davis
Junior varsity game
WARREN (45): Kevin Barsness 0 0-0 0, Dan Maeder 1 1-2 3, Matt Sandberg 6 0-1 14, Austin Jerman 1 4-4 6, Cody McGraw 0 3-4 3, Mark Davis 1 3-4 5, Tyler Abbott 1 0-0 2, Drew Lobdell 5 2-6 12, Totals: 15 13-21 45
OIL CITY (31): Carl 3 2-4 10, Way 4 3-7 11, Geib 1 1-1 3, Toms 1 1-1 3, Hartle 2 0-2 4, Totals: 11 7-16 31
Warren 10 13 17 5 - 45
Oil City 7 6 9 9 - 31
3-pointers: W- Sandberg 2; O- Carl 2
YOUNGSVILLE (43): Nathan Smith 6 1-2 13, Jeremy Clark 6 2-2 17, A.J. Gustafson 0 0-0 0, Broc Horn 3 0-0 6, Billy Chuzie 0 0-0 0, Coll Dininny 0 0-0 0, D.J. Rose 0 0-0 0, Brandon Reed 0 0-0 0,0 Thomas Chapman 2 0-0 4, James Frazier 1 0-0 2, Totals: 18 3-4 43
VENANGO CATHOLIC (84): Toy 2 3-4 7, Thereau 2 0-0 4, Duth 11 2-6 24, Rynd 10 6-11 28, Aulinski 2 2-2 6, Hawkins 0 4-6 4, Kuhn 2 4-6 9, Moltz 1 0-0 2, Totals: 30 21-35 84
Youngsville 17 7 13 6 - 43
Venango Catholic 17 29 23 17 - 84
3-pointers: Y-Clark; V- Kuhn, Rynd 2
Junior varsity game
YOUNGSVILLE (36): John Pollow 1 0-0 2, Colin Lehnen 2 2-2 6, James Frazier 2 2-4 7, Coll Dininny 5 1-2 11, Tom Chapman 3 0-0 6, Brandon Reed 2 0-0 4, Logan Morrison 0 0-0 0, A.J. Gustafson 0 0-0 0, Totals: 15 5-8 36
VENANGO CATHOLIC (45): Kuhn 10 1-3 22, Fink 1 0-0 2, Moltz 3 0-0 6, Jones 3 0-2 7, Barletta 0 2-4 2, Dinger 2 0-0 4, Hawkins 1 0-0 2, Totals: 20 3-9 45
Youngsville 2 10 11 13 - 36
Venango Catholic 15 8 10 12 - 45
3-pointers: Y-Frazier; V-Kuhn, Jones
TCCS (23): Ben Craft 4 0-0 8, Kendrick Morrison 0 1-2 1, Shaun Sitterley 2 0-2 5, Matt Brown 4 1-2 9, Pat Haney 0 0-0 0, Calvin Marsh 0 0-0 0, Totals: 10 2-6 23
IROQUOIS (53): Cassady 1 1-2 3, Cagnoli 3 0-0 6, P. Brown 2 0-0 5, Wheeler 6 0-2 15, J. Brown 1 0-0 3, Dodds 1 0-0 2, Lobenthal 5 1-2 11, Drozdowski 3 2-6 8, Totals: 22 4-12 53
TCCS 6 3 7 7 - 23
Iroquois 16 15 5 17 - 53
3-pointers: T-Sitterley; I- Wheeler 3, P. Brown, J. Brown
Junior varsity game
TCCS (8): Jordan Yeager 0 0-0 0, Pat Haney 1 2-4 4, Kendrick Morrison 0 0-0 0, Calvin Marsh 1 1-2 4, Chance Klos 0 0-0 0, Matt Niles 0 0-0 0, Cody Masters 0 0-0 0. Totals 2 3-6 8
IROQUOIS (48): Brown 2 0-0 5, Dodds 5 3-4 13, Cassady 7 0-1 15, Cagnoli 4 0-0 8, Lobenthal 1 1-2 3, Finke 1 0-0 2, Drozdowski 1 0-0 2, Totals 21 4-7 48
TCCS 2 0 0 6 - 8
Iroquois 21 14 7 6 - 48
3-pointers: T-Marsh; I-Cassady
Preston McMeans led the Dragons with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. Hank Morrison added 12 points and four rebounds and Fantasky chipped in with eight points, five rebounds and five assists.
Warren only has one day to prepare for a pivotal league game as the Dragons will host General McLane Monday.
"This is a big league game - should be a good game," Berdine said. "General McLane is one of the better teams in our league and we need to come out and play the way we're capable of playing. No excuses."
Warren claimed a 45-31 junior varsity victory. Matt Sandberg's 14 points led Warren.
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Venango Catholic 84, Youngsville 43
OIL CITY - Foul trouble proved to be big trouble for Youngsville during an 84-43 boys basketball loss to Venango Catholic Saturday.
By the time, the game reached the middle of the second quarter, one Youngsville starter was sitting with four fouls and two more starters had three. Overall, the Vikings shot 35 free throws while the visiting Eagles attemped just four.
While the game was being contested between starters, the teams played equal basketball. Through one quarter, the game was tied 17-17. However, after Youngsville was forced to go to its bench, the Vikings took control outscoring the Eagles by 22 in the second quarter.
Before the final whistle, guards Nathan Smith and Billy Chuzie had fouled out and forward Broc Horn did so as well.
Point guard Jeremy Clark did what he could to pick up the slack, scoring a season-high 17 points and adding five assists and three rebounds. Smith added 13 points and Horn finished with six points.
Youngsville will look to rebound from the loss Tuesday when it hosts Eisenhower.
Venango also won the junior varsity contest, 45-36. Coll Dininny had 11 points and 10 rebounds in defeat.
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Iroquois 53, Tidioute Charter 23
LAWRENCE PARK - Tidioute Charter couldn't find enough offense for its first win of the season Saturday, dropping a 53-23 decision to Iroquois at Iroquois High School.
While the Braves built a big 31-9 lead at halftime, TCCS had its share of strong play. TCCS coach Dave Manning said that Ben Craft had a strong game on the boards for the Bulldogs and Matt Brown had a monster game on defense. All told, Brown blocked eight Braves shots.
Brown was also the team's leading scorer on offense, finishing with nine points. Craft added eight points and Shaun Sitterley chipped in five.
The winless Bulldogs will continue searching for the season's first win Thursday when they visit Christian Life Academy.
Iroquois also won the junior varsity game, 48-8. Pat Haney and Calvin Marsh each scored four points in the loss.