Warren is in must-win territory from here on out.

A furious fourth-quarter rally fell short against General McLane as the Dragons dropped a crucial region matchup with the visiting Lancers by a score of 81-68 Tuesday at Warren Area High School.

The loss knocks the Dragons (10-7 overall, 3-2 in Region 6) out of first place and moves McLane (9-6, 4-1) into the top spot along with Girard.

“Our inability to knock down open shots, and going one-and-done in the first half, did us in,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. “I told them if we played with the intensity we played with in the last four minutes I think the outcome would have been different. (McLane) just dominated us on the glass in the first half.”

The Lancers built their lead early on with an 8-0 run late in the first quarter before Evan Suppa drained a three for the Dragons to pull within five at the end of the frame. Tanner Stanz hit a pair of foul shots to start the second quarter and Jacoby Passmore knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 17-17.

It didn’t take the Lancers long to answer.

After a quick timeout to quell Warren’s momentum, Alex Jay converted on a wide-open look from behind the arc to start another McLane run. The visitors stretched their lead to eleven points going into the break and continued to sink shots in the second half to keep the Dragons at bay.

McLane’s Ryan Reagan finished with a game-high 22 points including a 10-of-10 performance from the free throw line. As a team, the Lancers shot 22-of-25 from the charity stripe compared to 6-of-11 for Warren.

Suppa led the Dragons with 18 points followed by Passmore with 11 and Stanz, Scott Vasilisin, and Ryan Skerda with 10 each. Warren was without starting forward Max Gross, who is serving a mission trip and will return for next week’s games.

The Dragons are slated for a key game against Corry (4-12, 2-3) Friday at WAHS. Warren downed the Beavers 57-43 in the first meeting on Jan. 13.

Warren won the junior varsity game, 68-55, behind a stellar 32-point performance from Jason Waterfield. Noah Becker added 14 points for the Dragons.

GENERAL McLANE (81): White 0 0-0 0, Tate 4 4-4 13, Smiley 0 0-0 0, J. Solberg 0 0-0 0, Myers 4 3-4 11, Jay 6 4-5 17, Reagan 6 10-10 22, P. Solberg 4 0-0 10, Jones 3 0-0 7, Nesselhauf 0 0-0 0, Dillen 0 1-2 1, Eades 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 22-25 81.

WARREN (68): Vasilisin 4 1-2 10, Waterfield 0 0-0 0, Stanz 4 2-2 10, White 0 1-2 1, Nowacki 4 0-2 8, Suppa 7 2-3 18, Hultquist 0 0-0 0, Skerda 4 0-0 10, Passmore 4 0-0 11, Becker 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 6-11 68.

General McLane 17 18 20 26 – 81

Warren 12 12 14 30 – 68

3-pointers: GM – Smiley 1, Jay 1, P. Solberg 2, Jones 1; W – Vasilisin 1, Suppa 2, Skerda 2, Passmore 3.

Junior varsity game

GENERAL McLANE (55): White 1 3-4 5, Smiley 7 2-2 19, Travis 0 4-6 4, Parker 1 1-2 4, J. Solberg 1 2-2 4, Eades 6 1-3 13, Campbell 0 0-0 0, Berger 0 0-0 0, Tate 0 0-0 0, Lyon 2 1-2 6. Totals 18 14-21 55.

WARREN (68): Sturdevant 0 0-0 0, Gillotti 0 0-0 0, Waterfield 13 6-8 32, Galloway 2 2-5 8, Funari 0 0-0 0, Becker 5 4-5 14, Deppas 0 5-9 5, Baldensperger 0 0-0 0, Bablak 2 1-2 5, Swanson 0 0-0 0, Davis 0 2-2 2, Blair 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 20-31 68.

General McLane 16 12 7 20 – 55

Warren 19 9 17 23 – 68

3-pointers: GM – Smiley 3, Parker 1, Lyon 1; W – Galloway 2.

—

SAEGERTOWN 60, EISENHOWER 51

Eisenhower needed this one to stay above Saegertown in Region 3.

But Saegertown beat Ike for the second time this season and both now have identical 5-4 records in region.

“We were up on them by 10 points,” said Eisenhower coach Dave Allenson, “and turnovers and bad shots led to them fast-breaking us and scoring buckets. We didn’t play very good defense.”

Saegertown and Eisenhower are the top two Class AA teams in the region, but the Knights host undefeated-in-region Erie First (9-0) on Friday.

“We need to play as a team, and we’re not doing that,” said Allenson, whose Knights are 10-6 overall. Saegertown is 8-8.

Casey Vincent led the Knights with 17 points.

EISENHOWER (51): Vincent 6 3-4 19, Hunt 1 1-3 3, Hayes 0 1-2 1, Johnson 3 3-4 10, Sanders 3 2-2 8, Potts 1 2-2 4, J. Harvey 2 2-2 6, Th. Warren 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 14-19 51.

SAEGERTOWN (60): Amy 0 2-2 2, Johnston 1 0-3 2, Mattocks 6 2-2 14, Smith 1 5-8 7, Barclay 6 3-3 15, Sada 5 2-5 12, Rumzie 2 2-2 6, Reynolds 0 2-2 2. Totals 21 18-27 60

Eisenhower 19 14 9 9 – 51

Saegertown 10 19 13 18 – 60

3-pointers: E-Vincent 4, Johnson; S-none.

Junior varsity game

EISENHOWER (37): Reynolds 5 1-2 12, Myer 1 0-0 2, Z. Fincher 0 0-0 0, R. Venman 0 0-0 0, G. Venman 0 0-0 0, A. Fincher 1 0-0 3, Parrin 3 0-0 6, Ta. Warren 0 0-0 0, Smelko 0 0-0 0, Wolcott 1 0-0 2, Th. Warren 4 4-5 12. Totals 15 5-7 37.

SAEGERTOWN (34): Siple 1 0-0 2, Brown 0 2-4 2, Phelan 3 1-2 9, Pritchard 1 1-2 3, Schlosser 5 0-0 10, Bradley 4 0-0 8. Totals 14 4-8 34.

Eisenhower 15 6 4 12 – 37

Saegertown 14 5 9 6 – 34

3-pointers: E-Reynolds, A. Fincher; S-Phelan 2.

—

MAPLEWOOD 54, YOUNGSVILLE 47

GUYS MILLS – Youngsville fell short after a furious comeback in the fourth quarter in its Region 3 road game.

The Eagles trailed 9-0 to start the game before battling back to within four points at halftime, but a 17-3 Maplewood third quarter put them behind by 18 entering the fourth quarter.

Joey Chuzie scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in a 24-13 fourth quarter for Youngsville, but the Eagles fell to 0-9 in the region. Maplewood is 2-8 in Region 3.

Wyatt Rugar finished with 12 rebounds for the game, and Brady Kesterholt chipped in 11 points.

“We started pressing and had to foul at the end, but just couldn’t find our way back in it,” said Youngsville coach Jim Kesterholt, whose Eagles are 3-13.

Youngsville’s junior varsity team lost 45-17.

YOUNGSVILLE (47): Flinn 0 0-0 0, Rugar 2 1-3 5, Uplinger 1 2-3 4, Sherrard 1 0-0 2, Chuzie 5 2-2 14, Hendrickson 1 3-4 5, Kesterholt 4 2-4 11, Buchanan 1 2-2 4, Lake 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 12-18 47.

MAPLEWOOD (54): Lawerance 0 0-0 0, Mehok 0 0-0 0, Marvin 2 0-1 4, Wellman 2 3-6 7, Delo 5 2-2 12, Roser 0 4-8 4, Baker 2 6-7 12, Parker 0 0-0 0, McPherson 0 0-0 0, Glancy 2 1-2 5, Bakus 0 1-2 1, Dahl 2 5-7 9. Totals 15 22-34 54.

Youngsville 5 15 3 24 – 47

Maplewood 11 13 17 13 – 54

3-pointers: Y-Chuzie 2, Kesterholt; M-Baker.

—

MEADVILLE CALVARY BAPTIST 74, WCCS 25

Warren County Christian suffered a difficult loss to Meadville Calvary Baptist on Tuesday night, falling to the league favorites, 74-25.

The Lions mustered only 12 points through the first three quarters before putting up 13 in the fourth.

On top of a major size disadvantage, Warren County Christian was also playing shorthanded.

“We knew we had a lot in store for us tonight,” WCCS coach Tom Jones said. “(Meadville) has a big size and age advantage. We were missing a couple of our upperclassmen, and they’re two of our six-footers. So we were out here playing a lot of ninth graders, tenth graders, when they’re very senior-laden.”

Sophomore Josiah Poindexter carried the load offensively for WCCS, finishing with 14 points. Tommy Jones added six while Erik Sorensen chipped in five.

“I was very impressed that our kids kept playing hard,” Jones said. “In the fourth quarter, (Meadville) still had some of their starters in, and we still played hard.”

The Lions lost the junior varsity match, 42-23. Ethan Kerr led the team with nine points.

MEADVILLE CAL (74): McCrillis 8 0-0 17, Hough 1 0-0 2, Bacallao 5 3-4 16, Propheter 9 4-7 22, Tapper 5 2-2 13, Blakeslee 2 0-0 4, Daisley 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 9-13 74.

WCCS (25): Sorensen 2 1-4 5, Brenner 0 0-0 0, Phelps 0 0-0 0, T. Jones 2 1-2 6, Poindexter 7 0-1 14, Root 0 0-0 0, J. Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 2-7 25.

Meadville 17 15 26 16 – 74

WCCS 8 2 2 13 – 25

3-pointers: M – McCrillis, Bacallao 3, Tapper; W – Jones.

Junior varsity game

MEADVILLE (42): Shaffer 3 0-0 6, Ott 2 2-4 6, Coldwell 1 1-1 3, Lewandowski 6 0-1 12, Barnett 5 0-0 11, Mattocks 1 0-2 2, Frano 0 0-0 0, Bustamante 1 0-0 2, Jones 0 0-0 0, Copeland 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 3-8 42

WCCS (23): Root 1 0-0 2, M. Brenner 0 0-0 0, Peterson 3 0-2 6, Kerr 3 0-2 9, J. Jones 1 0-0 2, D. Jones 1 0-3 2, S. Brenner 1 0-0 2, Sorensen 0 0-0 0, Havle 0 0-0 0, Lauffenburger 0 0-0 0, Weidner 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 0-7 23.

Meadville 18 6 14 4 – 42

WCCS 4 9 2 8 – 23

3-pointers: M – Barnett; W – Kerr 3.