Warren entered Friday's regular season finale at Warren Area High School needing a victory over Corry and a Girard loss at home against Fort LeBoeuf to give itself a shot at a District 10 Class AAA playoff berth.
It did its part.
Unfortunately for the Dragons, so did Girard.
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
Step for step
Warren’s Joel Stewart, left, is guarded closely by a Corry defender during the second half of a boys basketball game Friday at Warren Area High School. Stewart and the Dragons picked up a 72-63 victory to close the year with a 13-9 record.
Warren defeated Corry, 72-63, on Senior Night, but a 52-49 Girard victory over Fort LeBoeuf likely ends the Dragons season at 13-9. While it won't be made official until D-10 playoff brackets are released this weekend, the Yellowjackets beat the Dragons by a full game for the fourth-place spot in Region 6.
"I'm proud of this senior group," said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. "They worked hard for this 13-win season as did our underclassmen. With a little luck, maybe this run can end in the postseason."
Berdine was unaware of the Girard and Fort LeBoeuf outcome at the time of the postgame interview.
Before the Dragons could even worry about a possible Girard loss, they had to dispatch of the Beavers. For awhile, it looked like even that would be a problem.
Corry held the potent Warren offense at bay in the first quarter and knocked down several deep jumpers in building a slim 14-12 lead.
Early in the second quarter, Warren tried to establish its dominance in the contest. Down four, Warren's Tyler Fantaskey was fouled and calmly sank two free throws. Joel Stewart stole the inbound pass and got the ball back to Fantaskey who was again fouled and sent to the line.
Fantaskey made the first freebie and missed the second before grabbing the offensive rebound and quickly putting it in the hole. All told, Fantaskey scored five points in seven seconds to give Warren a one-point lead.
Still, Corry refused to roll over after the offensive explosion and the visitors maintained a two-point lead as the first half wound down. The Dragons worked for the last shot of the half and Mark Davis was fouled with just 0.8 seconds left on the clock. Davis made both free throws and the contest was tied 30-30 at intermission.
The Dragons came out of the locker room with a new found intensity and quickly put it to work on the defensive end of the floor. The strong defensive effort led to several easy transition buckets and Warren closed the third quarter on an 11-3 run to take a 50-42 lead to the final stanza.
The Dragons built the lead to as many as 14 in the final quarter before settling for the nine-point victory.
"It was certainly a big night for our seniors," said Berdine. "We started a little slow defensively and it took us awhile to get our heels dug in. I think we came out in the third quarter and took control of the game by playing a more physical and determined defensive game."
McMeans was Warren's high point man Friday, finishing with 17 points. Hank Morrison added 16 points, Tyler Fantaskey had 13 points and Davis finished with 12 points.
McMeans added six assists and four boards, Davis had five rebounds and Stewart added five steals and four assists.
Warren's junior varsity team finished with a stellar 17-3 mark after a 53-32 win over Corry.
Davis scored 17 points and Drew Lobdell and Matt Sandberg 10 apiece for the winners.
CORRY (63): Cressley 5 0-0 11, Rougeau 2 0-0 4, Sheets 2 0-0 5, Mosher 9 1-1 25, Taydus 3 0-0 7, Barbish 2 0-0 4, Burrows 3 1-3 7, Totals: 26 2-4 63
WARREN (72): Kyle Papalia 3 1-3 8, Hank Morrison 5 6-6 16, Andrew Morrison 0 0-0 0, Tyler Fantaskey 6-9 13, Mark Davis 3 6-6 12, Joel Stewart 1 1-1 3, Nathan Billman 0 0-0 0, Preston McMeans 7 2-2 17, Kory Thomas 1 1-2 3, Totals: 23 23-29 72
Corry 14 16 12 21 - 63
Warren 12 18 20 22 - 72
3-pointers: C- Cressley, Sheets, Mosher 6, Taydus; W- Papalia, Fantaskey, McMeans
Junior varsity game
CORRY (32): Rougeau 4 0-2 8, Nollinger 1 4-6 6, Volz 5 1-4 12, Miller 0 2-4 2, Sabot 1 2-2 4, Totals: 11 9-19 32
WARREN (53): Kevin Barsness 0 0-0 0, Grayson Foley 0 3-6 3, Matt Sandberg 4 0-0 10, Cody McGraw 2 3-4 7, Mark Davis 4 8-8 17, Tyler Abbott 3 0-0 6, Drew Lobdell 3 4-8 10, Totals: 15 18-26 53
Corry 7 4 13 8 - 32
Warren 14 12 15 12 - 53
3-pointers: C- Volz; W- Sandberg 2, Davis
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Union City 66, Youngsville 44
Union City jumped out to a big lead - thanks, in part, to Bryan Landis - and defeated the Eagles in the final game for seven Youngsville seniors.
"I've got a good sophomore class coming up, (but) I'm losing a lot of firepower," said Youngsville coach Ray Niedrick, whose Eagles finished with 15 straight losses and a 1-21 overall record.
Landis had five 3-pointers and Union City jumped out to a 455-20 halftime lead.
Broc Horn finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Youngsville, and Nathan Smith nine rebounds in the loss.
UNION CITY (66): Hartman 2 3-4 8, Jackson 2 0-0 4, Landis 7 3-4 25, Nirmaier 2 0-0 4, Maynard 3 11-13 17, Daley 0 2-2 2, Pituch 0 1-2 1, Burgess 0 3-4 3, Russell 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 23-31 66
YOUNGSVILLE (44): Nathan Smith 2 1-3 5, Jeremy Clark 4 0-0 9, AJ Gustafson 0 0-0 0, Broc Horn 6 0-0 12, Billy Chuzie 0 0-0 0, Coll Dininny 0 0-0 0, DJ Rose 3 0-2 8, Tim Snavley 2 0-0 4, Brandon Reed 2 0-0 4, Tom Chapman 0 0-0 0, James Frazier 0 2-2 2, Esteban Carphio 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 3 3-7 44.
Union City 23 22 11 10 - 66
Youngsville 13 7 11 13 - 44
3-pointers: U-Landis 5, Hartman; Y-Clark, Rose 2.
Junior varsity game
UNION CITY (40): Collins 1 1-2 3, Daley 1 1-4 3, Pituch 2 6-11 10, Burgess 3 6-8 16, Hoban 2 3-6 8, Russell 0 2-4 2. Totals 8 19-35 40.
YOUNGSVILLE (28): James Frazier 1 2-4 4, Coll Dininny 3 2-4 8, Tom Chapman 1 1-2 3, Brandon Reed 2 1-2 5, Tim Snavley 1 1-2 3. Totals 9 7-14 28.
Union City 9 13 8 12 - 40
Youngsville 2 6 8 7 - 28
3-pointers: U-Burgess 4, Hovan; Y-none.
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Cochranton 83, TCCS 31
COCHRANTON - Tidioute Charter ran into a team on the bubble for the District 10 Class A playoffs to end its season on Friday.
And Cochranton wanted to state its case.
The Cardinals led 19-10 after one quarter, but ran off a 28-3 second quarter in the win.
Matt Brown ended his senior season with a team-high 18 points.
TCCS (31): Ben Craft 1 0-0 2, Jordan Yeager 0 0-1 0, Pat Haney 0 0-0 0, Kendrick Morrison 0 0-0 0, Shaun Sitterley 4 2-4 11, Matt Brown 6 6-10 18, Calvin Marsh 0 0-0 0, Cody Mohrey 0 0-0 0, Cody Masters 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 8-15 31.
COCHRANTON (83): Dick 2 0-0 4, Herring 5 0-1 10, Peterson 2 0-0 4, Rynd 2 7-8 11, Kenny 7 1-1 15, Oertly 9 0-1 19, Price 3 0-1 6, Woodworth 3 1-1 7, Adams 1 0-0 2, Herzberger 2 2-4 6. Totals 36 11-17 83.
TCCS 10 3 12 6 -31
Cochranton 19 28 18 18 -83
3-pointers: T-Sitterley; C-Oertly.
Junior varsity game
TCCS (12): Jordan Yeager 0 0-0 0, Kendrick Morrison 0 0-0 0, Pat Haney 2 0-0 4, Calvin Marsh 2 0-4 4, Cody Mohrey 1 0-0 2, Cody Masters 1 0-0 2. Totals 6 0-4 12
COCHRANTON (75): Troutner 4 0-1 8, Roche 3 3-10 9, Saunier 6 2-2 14, Villamar 5 6-8 16, Adams 1 1-2 3, Custead 9 1-2 19, Eisenbooth 2 0-0 4, Vanderhoof 1 0-0 2. Totals 31 13-25 75
TCCS 2 6 2 2 - 12
Cochranton 22 15 18 20 - 75
3-pointers: None.