Right hook.
Left cross.
TKO.
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Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
Carving a path
Warren guard Austin Jerman dribbles between a pair of East defenders during Thursday’s Region 7 basketball game with East at Warren Area High School. The Dragons defeated the Warriors, 79-54.
Preston McMeans and Hank Morrison provided a lethal one-two punch, scoring 26 of Warren's 28 first quarter points during a 79-54 Region 7 boys basketball victory over East Thursday at Warren Area High School.
Warren (10-3, 5-2 Region 7) put the breaks on a two-game losing streak by handily beating Corry earlier this week. This time, the Dragons bolted out to a 19-point first quarter lead.
McMeans scored 10 points in the first two-plus minutes of the game and finished with 15 points in the first period and 27 for the game. Morrison finished the opening stanza with 11 points and had 18 markers overall.
"We were ready to go out of the gate tonight," said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. "Preston and Hank were just amazing in that first quarter and really helped set the tone for us. The kids wanted to run tonight and get into some type of transition offense. In order to do that, we needed to rebound and get stops. The first game against East we didn't do that, but tonight we did."
Warren's quick tempo overwhelmed East for the remainder of the first half as the Dragons pushed the advantage to 29 points by halftime. Austin Jerman ran the point with relative ease and reached double figures in assists for the first time this season, finishing with 10 dimes.
"Austin wanted to make sure his teammates got into some type of rhythm early on and I think he did a really great job of helping them do so," said Berdine. "In the second half, when things got a little stagnant, he was able to make some nice plays and pull us out of a funk."
Jerman had six points and six rebounds to go with his 10 assists. Mark Davis added 15 points, Morrison had nine rebounds and four assists and McMeans had six boards to go with his 27 points.
Warren will try to make it three Region 7 victories in a row Saturday when it visits Girard. Junior varsity action tips off at 6 p.m. with varsity to follow.
On Thursday, Warren's junior varsity team was a 57-53 winner over East. Grayson Foley scored 16 points and Collin Fantaskey 15 in the win.
EAST (54): Qualls 7 5-6 20, Ford 3 0-0 6, Kirkland 3 0-0 7, Williams 4 1-2 10, Henderson 2 1-2 5, Redd 3 0-2 6, Totals: 22 7-12 54
WARREN (79): Mark Davis 7 1-1 15, Grayson Foley 0 0-0 0, Austin Jerman 2 2-2 6, Ryan Gustafson 0 0-0 0, Matt Sandberg 2 0-2 5, Kory Thomas 2 0-0 4, Hank Morrison 8 2-3 18, Preston McMeans 10 3-5 27, Jack Daley 1 0-0 2, Collin Fantaskey 0 2-2 2, Totals: 32 10-15 79
East 9 8 18 19 - 54
Warren 28 18 18 15 - 79
3-pointers: E- Qualls, Kirkland, Williams; W- McMeans 4, Sandberg
Junior varsity game
EAST (53): Burke 0 1-2 1, Kirkland 8 2-3 18, Quinn 4 4-7 12, Gates 5 0-2 10, Green 2 2-2 6, Williams 1 0-1 2, Nelson 0 1-2 1, Davis 1 1-2 3, Totals: 21 11-19 53
WARREN (57): Grayson Foley 5 4-6 16, Austin Schwanke 0 0-0 0, Ryan Gustafson 3 0-1 7, Collin Fantaskey 7 1-1 15, Cody McGraw 1 3-6 5, Andrew Hammersley 1 0-0 2, Tanner Stanz 6 0-0 12, Andrew Stanton 0 0-0 0, Totals: 23 8-14 57
East 8 16 12 17 - 53
Warren 16 7 13 21 - 57
3-pointers: E- None; W- Foley 2, Gustafson