Warren's dominance in the Warren County Tip-off Tournament is reaching new heights.
The Dragons were challenged for roughly four minutes in Saturday's championship showdown with Sheffield, before jetting past the Wolverines for an 81-27 victory at Sheffield High School.
Warren (2-0) is now a perfect 16-for-16 in the annual season opener, having won all eight boys tournament titles since the tournament began in 2004.
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
Stop and go
Warren’s Collin Fantaskey, left, is guarded by Sheffield’s Dylan McNeal during the Warren County Tip-off Tournament boys championship game Saturday at Warren Area High School.
"We knew if we could score enough early on, it would open up the door for our pressure and allow us to set a fast-paced tempo and wear them down," said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. "From playing them last year, we knew they may have some trouble with our pressure, so we made that a key to our game."
Sheffield actually led Warren 6-4 just past the midway mark through the opening quarter. One play changed all that.
Mark Davis stole the ball near midcourt and broke away from the Sheffield defense, emphatically dunking the ball on the other end to tie the game. Davis was assessed a technical for hanging on the rim, but the highlight-reel dunk ignited a 21-2 Warren run and the Dragons were never seriously challenged again.
Three Warren players reached double digits in the win, including Hank Morrison with a game-high 15 markers, Matt Sandberg with 12 and Austin Jerman 11.
"I thought Matt and Austin did a very nice job getting us some steals and setting us up with some easy transition buckets when the game was still close," added Berdine.
Drew Lobdell led the Dragons in rebounding with eight and Preston McMeans added six boards to go with his seven points. Jerman had four assists and Davis rejected six Sheffield attempts.
Sheffield's Kalil Slaughter paced the Wolverines with a nine-point effort. George Fitch added four points while Dylan McNeal, Mark Sprandle and Brendan Winslow all finished with three points.
Warren will visit Mercyhurst Prep on Tuesday before opening region play at East on Saturday. Sheffield (1-1) plays at West Forest Monday.
SHEFFIELD (27): Ike Nearing 1 0-1 2, Mark Sprandle 1 1-2 3, Kalil Slaughter 3 3-5 9, Nick Bonavita 0 0-0 0, George Fitch 1 2-5 4, Brendan Winslow 0 3-4 3, Josh Anderson 1 0-0 2, Tyler Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0, Lyle McCracken 0 0-0 0, Noah Heeter 0 0-0 0, Chris Pederson 0 1-2 1, Dylan McNeal 1 1-4 3, Nic Confer 0 0-0 0, Brandon Kipp 0 0-0 0, Totals: 8 11-23 27
WARREN (81): Hank Morrison 5 4-4 15, Austin Jerman 5 1-3 11, Preston McMeans 3 1-2 7, Matt Sandberg 5 2-2 12, Jack Daley 2 0-0 4, Grayson Foley 0 0-2 0, Mark Davis 1 2-4 4, Kory Thomas 3 2-2 8, Collin Fantaskey 1 3-5 5, Drew Lobdell 0 2-2 2, Cody McGraw 1 1-1 3, Jacoby Passmore 2 0-0 4, Tanner Stanz 1 0-0 2, Andrew Hammersley 0 0-2 0, Ryan Gustafson 0 4-4 4, Totals: 29 22-33 81
Sheffield 8 11 1 7 - 27
Warren 25 15 24 17 - 81
3-pointers: S-None; W-Morrison
Junior varsity game
EISENHOWER (7): Jarrett Johnson 0 0-0 0, Ben Harvey 0 0-0 0, Chris Sanders 0 0-0 0, Kyle Hunt 2 0-0 4, Ricky Zortman 0 0-0 0, John Potts 0 0-0 0, Carter Farrell 1 1-2 3, Totals: 3 1-2 7
WARREN (55): Derek Hanlin 0 0-0 0, Austin Schwanke 3 0-0 6, Ryan Gustafson 5 0-0 10, Collin Fantaskey 5 2-2 13, Andrew Hammersley 2 2-2 6, Jacoby Passmore 2 2-2 6, Nick Rosenquist 1 1-2 4, Tanner Stanz 3 2-2 8, Andrew Stanton 1 0-0 2, Totals: 22 9-10 55
Eisenhower 1 0 6 0 - 7
Warren 12 18 15 10 - 55
3-pointers: E-None; W- Fantaskey, Rosenquist
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Consolation Game
Eisenhower 63, Youngsville 17
Eisenhower continued its hardwood dominance over county-rival Youngsville with a 63-17 win in Saturday's Warren County Tip-off Tournament boys consolation game at Warren Area High School.
Much like Friday night's semifinal loss to Warren, the Knights played their best ball in the first half, scoring 29 points in the opening quarter to take a 24-point lead. By halftime, the Knights led 43-7 and a running clock was used much of the second half.
"The effort is certainly there and the boys are playing hard," said Ike assistant coach Jacoby Curtis. "The team showed improvement in running the offensive system. With a new system in place, we like seeing that improvement from game to game."
Ryan Williams and Joe Rustky were the Knights' offensive leaders in their first win of the year, finishing with 13 and 11 points respectively. Aaron Lundmark added nine points and Josh Deppas and Andrew Onoratti chipped in eight points apiece.
The Eagles got eight points from Broc Horn and six points from Rocco Gatta, but the rest of the roster contributed just three additional points.
Eisenhower (1-1) will host Titusville on Tuesday while the Eagles (0-2) visit Linesville on Friday.
YOUNGSVILLE (17): Rocco Gatta 3 0-0 6, James Frazier 0 0-0 0, Dan McLaughlin 0 0-1 0, Tom Chapman 1 1-2 3, Broc Horn 3 2-4 8, Coll Dininny 0 0-0 0, Colin Lehnen 0 0-0 0, Cory Jones 0 0-0 0, Nick Barrett 0 0-0 0, Totals: 7 3-7 17
EISENHOWER (63): Josh Deppas 4 0-0 8, Ryan Williams 5 3-4 13, Ricky Zortman 0 0-0 0, Joe Rutsky 4 2-2 11, Carter Farrell 1 0-0 2, Jarrett Johnson 0 0-0 0, Andrew Onoratti 3 0-0 8, Colin Shine 3 0-0 6, Nathan O'Brien 1 4-6 6, Aaron Lundmark 4 1-4 9, Totals: 25 10-16 63
Youngsville 5 2 5 5 - 17
Eisenhower 29 14 14 6 - 63
3-pointers: Y- None; E- Onoratti 2, Rutsky