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Sweet revenge: Dragons make big plays late to take down Titusville in OT.

Warren’s Aidan Morrison goes up for 2 as he is fouled during the third quarter of Tuesday’s Region 6 battle against Titusville. Morrison completed the 3-point play and scored 13 points in the overtime victory for the Dragons.

After letting their first meeting against Titusville slip away on the road, the Warren boys felt like they owed the Rockets.

They were able to turn the tables this time around, outlasting their Region 6 counterparts in a 59-54 overtime victory at Joseph A. Massa Gymnasium on Tuesday.

And it was one of those wins that everyone had a hand in.

“It’s a great victory for us,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. “We said going into it this is a big week for us. Titusville at home and then at General McLane on Friday. There’s a good chance we can put ourselves in the drivers seat if we play inspired basketball. I thought defensively we were solid.”

Twice in the final two minutes the Rockets built a 3-point lead and twice the Dragons (7-6 overall, 5-2 Region 6) tied it on huge 3-pointers from Devin McMeans and Jake Kupchella.

Warren’s Devin McMeans fires a pass to a teammate during the first half of Tuesday’s game against Titusville. McMeans scored a team-high 15 points, including some big shots late in the 59-54 OT win for Warren.

“I saw the defense switching, so they kind of stayed back and I saw a chance to shoot it,” McMeans said. “Thankfully it went in.”

McMeans’ shot came with 1:45 left on the fourth quarter clock and Kupchella’s with 1:02 to go.

The Rockets (11-4, 5-2) held for a final shot after Kupchella’s 3, but it never came.

JaiQuil Johnson, who was unstoppable in the second half and overtime, scoring 22 of his 27 points, had the ball in his hands, but was stripped by Griffin Suppa, who pounced on the ball with less than a second to go.

“We knew he was going to take the last shot,” Berdine said. “We were trying to get Mitch (Grosch) to show a little bit and maybe have him give the ball up. He tried to get through both of them and Griffin made the play.”

Warren’s Ben Berdine looks for an open teammate after pulling down an offensive rebound during the first half of Tuesday’s game against Titusville.

In overtime, it was the Dragons who were able to make more big plays to secure the win.

McMeans stayed hot, drilling a 3 to start the extra session and, after Titusville’s Cade Skinner made 1-of-2 from the line, Jake Kupchella got fouled and made both free throws, extending the lead to four.

Johnson drained a 3 with 41 seconds left to bring Titusville back within 1, but, McMeans came down and hit a jumper off his own offensive rebound, and Titusville was unable to tie the game.

Suppa iced it away, sinking a pair of free throws, his only points of the game, to seal the win. The senior point guard dominated in every other way however, pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing out eight assists.

In a region wherever every game is critical, this was extra special for Warren.

Warren's Caleb Ei puts up a hook shot over Titusville's Cole Culver.

“We definitely owed them after they beat us the way they did, by the little amount down there,” McMeans said. “We wanted to get this one so they didn’t have an advantage over us when it comes down to playoffs.”

It took the Dragons a little while to get into the flow of the game early, with Titusville building a 17-9 lead after the first quarter on the strength of strong inside play from Guy Anthony and Cole Culver.

Ben Berdine and Jake Funari came off the bench and gave the Dragons some excellent minutes, with Berdine knocking down a pair of shots, that, coupled with Caleb Ei’s nine first half points, kept them within striking distance.

“The first half, we were in the game, but it didn’t really feel like we were in the game,” coach Berdine said. “We just had to calm down and realize it was just a two possession game and we were right there. We got huge minutes in the first half from Ben and Jake Funari. Jake’s done a good job in practice and I thought he did a good job against their two bigger kids.”

The Dragons came out in the second half and went on a 16-6 run to take a 4-point lead, spearheaded by McMeans and Aidan Morrison.

Morrison, the masked man, had an old-school 3-point play and a shot from deep, and McMeans also buried a triple during the run.

Johnson scored 11 of Titusville’s 15 points in the third, making it anyone’s game over the final 12 minutes.

“I think this shows that we have a lot of leadership and senior experience,” McMeans said. “We were able to pull together and fight to the end.”

Neither team led by more than three points in the fourth quarter.

“The big thing is we battled and gave ourselves an opportunity to win,” Berdine said.

Ei pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Berdine led four players in double figures with 14 points in a 77-49 JV win.

The Dragons are at General McLane on Friday.

– – –

TITUSVILLE (54)

Johnson 8-8-9-27, Skinner 1-3-4-6, Roberts 0-0-0-0, Culver 3-2-6-8, Anthony 5-0-0-11, Perez 1-0-0-2, Totals 18-13-19-54

WARREN (59)

Morrison 5-1-1-13, Kupchella 2-3-6-8, McMeans 6-0-0-15, Ei 4-3-5-11, Suppa 0-2-2-2, Grosch 2-0-0-4, Berdine 3-0-0-6, Funari 0-0-0-0, Totals 21-9-14-59

By Quarters

Titusville 17 6 15 17 4 – 54

Warren 9 8 20 13 9 – 59

Three-point FGs: Titusville (5) – Johnson 3, Skinner, Anthony; Warren (6) – McMeans 3, Morrison 2, Kupchella

– – –

JV

TITUSVILLE (49)

Jones 1-3-8-5, Stover 7-4-4-20, Beach 0-1-3-1, Colon 7-3-3-17, Banner 1-0-0-2, Survey 1-0-0-2, Totals 18-11-18-49

WARREN (77)

R. Arnold 6-0-0-13, Rafalski 3-0-0-6, Berdine 6-2-3-14, Gustafson 2-0-0-4, Bablak 5-2-2-12, Barnes 6-0-0-12, B. Arnold 0-0-1-0, Morse 0-0-0-0, Hussey 1-0-0-2, Borger 1-2-2-4, Swanson 3-0-0-6, Vazquez 1-1-2-4, Salapek 0-0-0-0, Totals 34-7-10-77

By Quarters

Titusville 12 7 13 17 – 49

Warren 23 15 24 15 – 54

Three-point FGs: Titusville (2) – Stover 2; Warren (2) – R. Arnold, Vazquez

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