WATERFORD - Warren's boys basketball team lost at Fort LeBoeuf last season, and it hurt when the playoff selections came around.
The Dragons didn't let that happen this year.
Trailing 55-47 after three quarters, Warren outscored LeBoeuf 30-7 in the fourth quarter for a 77-62 Region 7 win on Tuesday at Fort LeBoeuf High School.
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
Turning the corner
Tidioute Community Charter School’s Brian Faulkner, left, tries to escape from Warren County Christian School’s Andrew Laird during the first half of Tuesday’s boys basketball game at WCCS.
"It almost looked like we turned on a switch in the fourth quarter," said Warren coach Jeff Berdine, whose Dragons are 13-4 overall and 8-2 and in third place in the region.
Fort LeBoeuf hit a shot at the first-half buzzer and led 34-33 at halftime. Hank Morrison had 14 of his 24 points in the first half to keep Warren close.
"We turned the ball over 12 times in the first half and got lost quite a bit on their shooters, and they shot very well against us," said Berdine.
Tyler Hering had 12 of his 17 points in the first half for LeBoeuf (7-11 overall, 2-9 in region).
Fort LeBoeuf upped its lead to 55-47 after three quarters. Donnie Gregg had 11 of his 18 points, including three 3-pointers, in a 21-14 third quarter for the Bisons.
"At the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, we really started to play," said Berdine.
Mark Davis missed the free throw on a potential three-point play, but Hank Morrison tipped in the rebound to cut the lead to 60-55 LeBoeuf in the fourth. Then Preston McMeans' putback cut the deficit to three points, and Matt Sandberg cut it to one.
Finally, Morrison scored in transition, and Warren turned a nine-point deficit to a one-point lead in a matter of a couple minutes.
The Dragons scored on their last 14 possessions, "and basically ran away with the game," said Berdine.
Davis scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half, and Kory Thomas seven of his nine in the half. After a big first half, Morrison finished with eight points in the fourth quarter.
McMeans had 18 points, including four 3-pointers, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals for Warren. The senior is closing in on 1,000 career points in his high school career. Austin Jerman added eight rebounds and six assists and Sandberg six assists for Warren.
Davis added seven blocks and five rebounds and Morrison five rebounds.
Tanner Stanz had nine field goals and 22 points in a 61-41 junior varsity win for Warren.
WARREN (77): Mark Davis 8 0-3 16, Austin Jerman 1 2-2 4, Matt Sandberg 3 0-1 6, Collin Fantaskey 0 0-0 0, Kory Thomas 4 0-2 9, Hank Morrison 10 4-5 24, Preston McMeans 7 0-0 18, Jack Daley 0 0-0 0. Totals 33 6-13 77.
FORT LeBOEUF (62): Gregg 6 2-3 18, Yost 4 0-0 9, Boccio 0 2-2 2, Hering 6 3-4 17, Cress 2 0-0 4, Lockhart 6 0-0 12. 24 7-9 62.
Warren 18 15 14 30 - 77
Fort LeBoeuf 13 21 21 7 - 62
3-pointers: W-Thomas, McMeans 4; F-Gregg 4, Yost, Hering 2.
Junior varsity game
WARREN (61): Grayson Foley 2 2-2 8, Derek Hanlin 0 3-3 3, Austin Schwanke 1 0-0 2, Ryan Gustafson 0 4-5 4, Collin Fantaskey 5 3-5 13, Cody McGraw 0 0-0 0, Andrew Hammersley 2 3-4 7, Nick Rosequist 0 0-0 0, Tanner Stanz 9 4-4 22, Andrew Stanton 0 0-0 0, Jack Daley 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 18-23 61.
FORT LeBOUEF (41): Galcin 1 0-1 2, Lander 1 0-0 3, Holes 3 0-0 6, Learn 2 0-0 4, Boccio 3 0-0 7, Marzka 1 0-0 2, Lambardozzi 5 1-5 11, Alexander 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 1-6 41.
Warren 24 11 12 14 - 61
Fort LeBoeuf 9 11 13 8 - 41
3-pointers: W-Foley 2; F-Lander, Boccio.
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WCCS 52, TCCS 18
Carson Moore was a one-man wrecking crew, scoring a career-high 28 points in Warren County Christian School's lopsided 52-18 victory over Tidioute Community Charter School Tuesday at WCCS.
As if the 28 points wasn't impressive enough, Moore added 20 rebounds and eight steals, narrowly falling short of a triple-double.
The Lions had little trouble in pushing their season mark to 4-7. The hosts started the game on a 17-2 run and led by 20 points at halftime.
"We came out with pressure at the beginning and (Tidioute was) having trouble handling that," said WCCS coach Steve Zwald. "We tried to deny everything inside and make them shoot from the outside. Tonight was a very different kind of game for us. We usually have a lot of 3-point shots, but tonight we didn't have one. 40 of our 52 points were scored by post players. Those guys did an excellent job tonight."
Jamie Petrush continues to show improvement, finishing with a double-double effort of 12 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's win. Josh Carpenter scored eight points and pulled down 10 boards and Andrew Laird had seven steals.
Brian Faulkner was TCCS main offensive threat, scoring half of the Bulldogs' 18 points. Pat Haney added four points, Pat Thompson and Calvin Marsh scored two points each and Alex Marsh finished with one point.
WCCS will try to make it two in a row Friday at Jamestown Bethel. TCCS visits Erie Bethel on Thursday.
TCCS (18): Chance Klos 0 0-0 0, Jordan Yeager 0 0-0 0, Brian Faulkner 4 0-0 9, Alex Marsh 0 1-2 1, Pat Thompson 1 0-0 2, Calvin Marsh 1 0-2 2, Pat Haney 2 0-0 4, Austyn Marsh 0 0-0 0, Brian Bonner 0 0-0 0, Todd Breeden 0 0-0 0, Cody Mohrey 0 0-0 0, Kendrick Morrison 0 0-0 0, Totals: 8 1-4 18
WCCS (52): Andrew Laird 1 0-0 2, Josh Carpenter 4 0-1 8, Carson Moore 14 0-0 28, Jamie Petrush 5 2-5 12, Eric Sorenson 1 0-0 2, Josh Wagonseller 0 0-0 0, Marcus Root 0 0-0 0, Daniel Lauffenburger 0 0-0 0, Totals: 25 2-6 52
TCCS 2 6 5 5 - 18
WCCS 15 13 14 10 - 52
3-pointers: T- Faulkner; W- None