Lady Dragons knock off General McLane for third time this season, advance to D-10 title game
ERIE – For the last couple years, whenever the Warren Lady Dragons needed a clutch play it was pretty much a given the ball would be in Margo Loutzenhiser’s hands.
More often than not, that strategy paid dividends. However, during the final two minutes of the District 10 Class 5A semifinal game against General McLane Wednesday, Warren was clinging to a 9-point lead, struggling to break the Lancers press defense and couldn’t turn to their senior leader.
Loutzenhiser fouled out of the game with 3:17 to play. In her absence, freshman point guard Riley Childress took charge of the offense. She calmly moved the ball up the court and with the game on the line, went 5-6 from the free throw line in the last 90 seconds to help the Dragons secure a berth in the D-10 title game with a 57-43 win over the Lancers.
“That was huge,” Loutzenhiser said of the freshman’s performance.
Childress also scored a game-high 21 points.
“We made an adjustment and put Emma (Ruhlman) and Riley up top (to break the press),” Warren coach Lisa LaVan said. “They’re not like freshmen players, they’re just so seasoned.”
“We work as a team,” Childress said. “We just trust our teammates and we all work together.”
Fittingly, it was Childress who first got the Dragons (21-3) on the board. Warren missed its first three shots of the game, and General McLane (17-7) had a 2-0 lead. Childress drilled a 3-pointer to put Warren ahead 3-2 with 5:40 to go in the first quarter.
The Dragons wouldn’t trail again.
Loutzenhiser completed a traditional 3-point play to put Warren up 7-2 with just under three minutes to go in the frame, then connected on a 3 of her own to make it 10-2 with just under two minutes to go. Warren had a 14-4 lead after the first eight minutes.
“We were a little shaky early, I think just because it’s the playoffs,” Loutzenhiser said. “But then we were able to just relax and play.”
General McLane cut the lead to 16-11 midway through the second quarter, but layups from Ruhlman and Alanna Hultberg helped Warren regain the 10-point advantage, 23-13 with a minute to go. Childress nearly got a layup to end the half, but the shot bounced around the rim and fell to the floor to make it 23-14 at the half.
Sierra Seneta hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter to cut the lead to 25-18. Childress and Loutzenhiser answered with back-to-back 3s of their own to extend the lead to 33-20 midway through the period. Childress connected on her second deep ball of the quarter just over a minute later to make it 38-22. Loutzenhiser and Seneta, McLane’s leading scorer, both picked up their third personal fouls late in the frame. Rachel Kaulis was fouled attempting a buzzer-beater and went 1-2 from the line to cut the Warren lead to 42-25 after three.
Seneta completed a 3-point play just over two minutes into the fourth, which gave Ruhlman her fourth personal. With Warren leading 46-31 and 5:10 to go, Loutzenhiser was called for her fourth personal, an offensive foul that looked more like two Lancers collided with each other than made contact with Loutzenhiser. It was Hultberg who first stepped up for the Dragons. The senior connected on a layup, then went 2-2 from the line to provide some scoring. She also grabbed some big rebounds and made some solid defensive plays.
“Alanna was dynamite,” LaVan said.
Taylor Childress was the beneficiary when McLane first went into its press defense. She drove for a layup on one trip, then later looked as though she was going to get a free run to the basket for a second time. A McLane defender closed the space and Taylor made a pass around the defender’s waist to a wide-open Teagan Paris for a basket.
“Taylor grew up too,” LaVan said. “She came out great in the second half. If there was ever a game where everyone did their job and played a role, it was today.”
Those roles weren’t just on the offensive end of the floor either. Seneta, who averages 13.7 points per game, was held scoreless in the first half, thanks in large part to Paris’ stifling defense.
“Teagan kept her in front and that was huge,” LaVan said.
Riley Childress and Ruhlman were primarily matched up with Kendyl McKissock and Hanna Pfeiffer, respectively. The last time these two teams met, the duo combined for 25 points. Wednesday, they were held to just three points apiece.
“That really says a lot about those two,” LaVan said.
Seneta led the Lancers with 13 points. Kaulis and Kayle Seidel each had nine.
Loutzenhiser finished with 16 points and four assists. Hultberg added 10 points and Ruhlman had seven rebounds and five assists.
Warren now moves on to the D-10 championship Saturday. The Dragons will face-off with Slippery Rock, a 55-30 winner over Hickory in the other semifinal game Wednesday. The time and location for the title game will be announced later.
“Slippery Rock is a good shooting team,” LaVan said.
For Loutzenhiser, it’s a career come full circle as she was a freshman when the Dragons last played for, and won, a district title in 2016.
“It means a ton to get back there,” LaVan said. “But she’s not happy just being there. We’re going to go to work.”
“We’ve got a lot of confidence,” Riley Childress said. “We’re doing it for the seniors.”
Loutzenhiser summed it up.
“We’re going to come after it,” she said.
– – –
GENERAL MCLANE (43)
Seneta 4-3-3-13, Seidel 3-2-2-9, Kaulis 4-1-2-9, Freyermuth 2-0-0-4, McKissock 1-1-2-3, Pfeiffer 1-1-2-3, Lamoreaux 1-0-0-2, Team 17-9-11-43
WARREN (57)
R. Childress 6-6-8-21, Loutzenhiser 5-4-5-16, Hultberg 3-4-4-10, T. Childress 2-0-1-4, Stuart 1-0-1-2, Ruhlman 1-0-0-2, Paris 1-0-0-2, Madigan 0-0-0-0, Team 19-14-19-57
By quarters
General McLane 4 10 11 18 – 43
Warren 14
3-point FGs: General McLane (3)-Seneta 2, Seidel. Warren (5)-R. Childress 3, Loutzenhiser 2.
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