The format of the Warren County Tipoff Classic may have changed, but Warren's dominance remains.
The Dragons held Youngsville without a field goal until the opening minutes of the second half and built a 28-3 halftime lead during a 55-14 season-opening victory Friday at Warren Area High School.
"It was good to get the first game jitters out," said Warren girls coach Lisa Ruhlman. "I thought the girls played well and did a nice job of controlling the things they needed to during the game."
Article Photos
Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt
Plan of attack
Youngsville's Kennedy Cratty makes a move in the post while Warren's D.J. Hahn defends on the first night of the Warren County Tip-Off Classic at Warren Area High School.
The Class AAA Dragons dominated the Class A Eagles in every facet of the game. Three Warren players reached double figures in scoring for the night led by Alexa Bupp's 14 points. Jaimie Eaton added 13 points and Taylor Mineweaser finished with 10. The Dragons were also fierce on the boards with freshman Paige Wilson and Brittni Merenick pulling down 10 rebounds each and another freshman, D.J. Hahn, adding nine.
Youngsville's Karissa Cratty led the Eagles with five points and scored the team's first field goal of the night with 6:23 remaining in the third quarter. Katie Chuzie finished with four points, Kelsey Anderson added three and Kennedy Cratty chipped in two for Youngsville (0-1).
Warren will try to start 2-0 for the fifth straight season Saturday when it plays Eisenhower at 3 p.m. Youngsville will battle Sheffield in the final girls contest of the Classic. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
YOUNGSVILLE (14): Kelsey Anderson 1 1-3 3, Katelyn Maille 0 0-0 0, Karissa Cratty 2 1-3 5, Katie Chuzie 2 0-0 4, Jessica Jameson 0 0-0 0, Judi Lewis 0 0-0 0, Kennedy Cratty 0 0-0 0, Jenna Bower 0 0-0 0, Aubree Hendrickson 0 0-0 0, Totals: 5 4-9 14
WARREN (55): Ashlee McClure 0 0-2 0, Jaimie Eaton 6 0-0 13, D.J. Hahn 1 1-4 4, Alexa Bupp 6 0-0 14, Taylor Mineweaser 4 0-0 10, Meghan Loutzenhiser 2 1-2 5, Amy Castagnino 0 0-0 0, McKenzie Merenick 0 0-0 0, Kari Santo 1 0-0 2, Brittni Merenick 1 1-2 3, Paige Wilson 2 0-0 4, Lizzie Marsh 0 0-0 0, Totals: 23 3-10 55
Youngsville 2 1 3 8 - 14
Warren 14 14 18 9 - 55
3-pointers: Y-None; W- Eaton, Hahn, Bupp 2, Mineweaser 2
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Eisenhower 59, Sheffield 45
Sheffield controlled the foul line.
Eisenhower controlled everything else.
The aggressive defense of the Knights sent the Wolverines to the foul line 32 times - while the Knights themselves attempted just two freebies - but it didn't matter as Eisenhower started the season 1-0 with a 59-45 victory over Sheffield during the opening night of the Warren County Tipoff Classic Friday at Warren Area High School.
The Lady Knights came out firing in the first quarter using pressure defense to get easy looks on the offensive end. The hot shooting of Kristen Williams and her 10 first-quarter points helped Ike build a 23-9 advantage after the first eight minutes.
The Eisenhower lead swelled to as many as 19 points early in the second stanza before a bevy of Knight fouls continually placed Sheffield at the charity stripe.
The Wolverines took advantage of the freebies and closed the gap to just eight, 35-27, at halftime. At intermission, Sheffield had attempted 21 free throws to the Knights' two.
The halftime break served to settle Eisenhower down and the Knights used a 7-0 run to open the third quarter. The run was highlighted by a three from Kristen Williams and buckets from Dakota Williams and Alyssa Peterson as the Knights pushed the edge to 42-27. The Wolverines would again cut the deficit into single digits midway through the fourth quarter only to watch Ike pull away late.
Kristen Williams led all scorers with 22 points and was the only Ike player in double figures. Peterson and Dakota Williams chipped in eight points each and Holly Chapman finished with seven.
Halie Van Ord, Peterson and Brooke Stanton all finished with six rebounds for the Knights.
"I thought we did a tremendous job rebounding tonight," said Ike coach Mike Logue. "Starting 1-0 is nice. Getting that first win under your belt is always important."
Despite playing with foul trouble for much of the game, Jen Isenberg paced Sheffield with 15 points. Abby Labesky finished the night with 10 markers and Ashley Davidson scored seven points.
Both teams will be back in action Saturday when the Tipoff Classic concludes. Eisenhower squares off with Warren at 3 p.m. while Sheffield entertains Youngsville at 6 p.m.
SHEFFIELD (45): Hannah Vile 0 3-4 3, Hanna Fitch 2 1-4 5, Jade Moore 1 3-5 5, Ashley Davidson 2 3-8 7, Abby Labesky 2 5-9 10, Mariah Fitzgerald 0 0-0 0, Jen Isenberg 7 1-2 15, Tierra Hansen 0 0-0 0, Totals: 14 16-32 45
EISENHOWER (59): Lyssa Knapp 0 0-0 0, Kristen Williams 9 0-0 22, Holly Chapman 3 1-2 7, Halie VanOrd 2 0-0 4, Dakota Williams 4 0-0 8, Bailey Burch 0 0-0 0, Mallory Trumbull 0 0-0 0, Brooke Stanton 3 0-0 6, Haylie Birt 0 0-0 0, Danielle Bradish 2 0-0 4, Alyssa Peterson 4 0-0 8, Totals: 27 1-2 59
Sheffield 9 18 7 11 - 45
Eisenhower 23 12 14 10 - 59
3-pointers: S- Labesky; E- K. Williams 4