By ALLEN SEYBERT
HARBORCREEK- Heavily-favored in its Region 7 boys basketball contest with Harbor Creek, Warren found itself down 13 points at halftime.
Only a monumental comeback would keep the Dragons from losing ground in the crowded race for postseason positioning.
They got it.
A 3-pointer by Preston McMeans with 2:20 left in the game gave Warren its first lead and Hank Morrison converted several key buckets down the stretch as the Dragons rallied for a 50-45 victory at Harbor Creek High School.
"I'm proud of the way we dug in and refused to quit," said Warren boys coach Jeff Berdine. "Give the kids credit. They could've decided to quit at any time, but they were up for the challenge tonight."
The win sets up an important Region 7 contest Monday at Warren Area High School. The third-place Dragons (14-5, 9-3 Region 7) will try to jump into a tie for Region 7's second spot against current runner-up Central Tech (12-7, 10-2).
The Dragons were expected to easily handle the Huskies on Monday - and played like it would come easily early on.
Perhaps looking past Harbor Creek (6-12, 5-7), the Dragons were quickly hit in the mouth. The hosts built a 17-12 lead after the first period and led 31-18 at intermission.
"Offensively, we were impatient, flat and generally in a hurry," said Berdine. "(Harbor Creek) came out and hit three 3-pointers right off the bat to give them a lead they would continue to extend until halftime."
According to Berdine, Warren's Hank Morrison was key in keeping the Dragons as close as they were. Morrison canned 10 of the Dragons' 18 first-half points.
In the second half, Morrison's teammates joined the party.
"We really didn't make any changes at halftime," said Berdine. "We just decided to start playing defense. Our goal was to get within six points by the end of the third and we dwindled it down to eight. The defensive play just got stronger from there."
Warren held the Huskies scoreless for the first three minutes of the fourth while continuing to chip away at the lead. Finally, with 2:20 left in regulation, Warren found itself down just a single point and with possession of the ball.
A shot was missed, but Austin Jerman grabbed an offensive rebound and found a wide-open McMeans who drained his only three of the night to put the Dragons on top. After a Mark Davis block on the other end, Morrison hit a layup to put Warren up by four.
"Hank made some key buckets down the stretch and Kory (Thomas) did a wonderful job defensively," said Berdine. "Zoltowski scored 16 points in the first half and Kory (and others) limited him to just two points in the second half."
Morrison led all scorers with 25 points and 13 rebounds. McMeans - approaching 1,000 career points coming into the contest - added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Harbor Creen topped Warren in the junior varsity game, 71-57. Ryan Gustafson and Collin Fantaskey each scored 11 points in defeat.
WARREN (50): Mark Davis 1 1-2 3, Austin Jerman 1 0-0 2, Matt Sandberg 1 0-0 2, Collin Fantaskey 0 0-0 0, Jack Daley 0 0-0 0, Kory Thomas 3 0-0 8, Hank Morrison 12 1-1 25, Preston McMeans 4 1-1 10, Totals: 22 3-4 50
HARBOR CREEK (45): Robinson 2 0-0 4, Stefanski 1 0-0 2, Renshaw 1 0-0 2, Griffin 1 0-0 2, Zoltowski 7 2-3 18, Barko 3 0-0 7, Madison 5 0-0 10, Totals: 20 2-3 45
Warren 12 6 11 21 - 50
Harbor Creek 17 14 6 8 - 45
3-pointers: W- Thomas 2, McMeans; H- Zoltowski 2, Barko
Junior varsity game
WARREN (57): Grayson Foley 2 1-4 6, Derek Hanlin 0 0-0 0, Austin Schwanke 0 0-0 0, Ryan Gustafson 4 0-0 11, Collin Fantaskey 4 0-0 11, Cody McGraw 0 0-0 0, Andrew Hammersley 1 0-0 2, Jacoby Passmore 2 3-4 7, Tanner Stanz 3 0-2 7, Nick Rosenquist 1 0-0 3, Jack Daley 4 0-0 10, Totals: 21 4-10 57
HARBOR CREEK (71): Madison 1 3-4 5, Rodgers 2 2-2 6, Mulique 3 4-8 13, Charles 2 2-2 7, Renshaw 4 2-2 11, Stefanski 1 6-8 9, Witcomb 5 1-1 11, Pius 4 0-0 9, Totals: 22 20-27 71
Warren 9 11 16 21 - 57
Harbor Creek 9 17 18 27 - 71
3-pointers: W- Foley, Gustafson 3, Fantaskey 3, Stanz, Rosenquist, Daley 2; H- Mulique 3, Charles, Renshaw, Pius
---
WCCS 69, TCCS 45
Josh Carpenter and Carson Moore each deposited 24 points and the Warren County Christian School Lions defeated the Tidioute Community Charter School Bulldogs for the second time in six days Monday at TCCS.
"Tidioute played a much improved game, but we were able to build a nice lead," said WCCS coach Steve Zwald. "We shot well from outside tonight unlike our game with them last week. We played a very nice game."
Moore had 15 rebounds and four steals to go with his points total. Carpenter, Josh Wagonseller and Eric Sorenson all had six steals.
Four TCCS players scored at least eight points. Kendrick Morrison paced the effort with 12 points, Brian Faulkner finished with 10 and Pat Haney and Brian Bonner scored eight points each.
WCCS (5-8) returns to action Friday, hosting Community Country Day. TCCS (0-10) hosts Erie First Christian on Friday.
WCCS (69): Andrew Laird 1 0-0 2, Josh Carpenter 10 3-6 24, Carson Moore 11 2-2 24, Josh Wagonseller 3 0-0 8, Jamie Petrush 3 0-2 6, Daniel Lauffenburger 0 1-2 1, Eric Sorenson 1 0-3 2, Josiah Poindexter 1 0-0 2, Marcus Root 0 0-0 0, Tommy Jones 0 0-0 0, Totals: 30 6-15 69
TCCS (45): Chance Klos 0 0-0 0, Jordan Yeager 2 1-4 5, Brian Faulkner 3 4-6 10, Kendrick Morrison 5 2-6 12, Pat Thompson 1 0-2 2, Pat Haney 4 0-4 8, Brian Bonner 3 0-0 8, Todd Breeden 0 0-0 0, Totals: 18 7-22 45
WCCS 26 14 16 13
TCCS 5 12 8 20
3-pointers: W- Carpenter, Wagonseller 2; T- Bonner 2