Warren's Jake Kupchella had 10 points and four steals in Friday's season-opening setback to Cambridge Springs.

FRANKLIN – Try as they might, Warren couldn’t overcome Cambridge Springs’ 6-8 tandem of Turner Kurt and Reese Eakin in a 65-47 setback in their season opener at the Franklin Tip-Off Tournament on Friday.

Kurt scored 21 points and Eakin 13, with 27 of those points coming in the first half. Noah Reisenauer matched Kurt with a game-high 21 points for the Blue Devils.

“The difference in the game was their size,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. “We started in zone and they just bludgeoned us on the offensive glass. Everything was inside the paint in the first half.”

Conversely, Warren’s tallest inside player is 6-1 Aidan Morrison, but he battled the duo all night, coming up with 10 rebounds of his own, which represented more than half of the Dragons’ total rebounds for the game.

The Blue Devils jumped out to a 32-21 halftime lead and, try as they might with a couple of runs, the Dragons weren’t able to mount a comeback.

“We just had a couple of bad spurts in the first half with turnovers and missed shots that they were able to stretch out the lead,” Berdine said. “We made a couple of runs in the second half, we just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Warren had three players in double figures, led by Caleb Ei’s 15 points, while Andrew Davidson had 14 (including 4 three’s) and Jake Kupchella 10. Kupchella also had four steals, while Morrison handed out five assists.

“I give them credit, they’re a good team,” Berdine said. “We didn’t play particularly well on the defensive end.”

The Dragons will meet VisionQuest at 4:30 p.m. today in the consolation game.

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WARREN (47)

Kupchella 3-3-5-10, Morrison 1-0-0-2, Davidson 5-0-0-14, Ei 7-1-1-15, Suppa 2-0-0-4, Johnson 0-0-0-0, Davis 0-0-0-0, Grosch 0-0-0-0, McMeans 0-0-0-0, Totals 19-4-6-47

CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS (65)

D. Taylor 1-0-0-2, Babb 2-2-2-6, Kurt 9-2-4-21, Reisanauer 9-3-7-21, Eakin 6-1-1-13, Welker 1-0-0-2, J. Taylor 0-0-2-0, Ferris 0-0-0-0, Wheeler 0-0-0-0, Kingsley 0-0-0-0, Totals 28-8-16-65

Warren 13 8 16 10 – 47

Cambridge Springs 19 13 19 14 – 65

Three-point FGs: Warren (5) – Davidson 4, Kupchella; Cambridge Springs (1) – Kurt

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FAIRVIEW 72, EISENHOWER 33

FAIRVIEW – Eisenhower ran into a buzzsaw in its season-opener at the Fairview Tip-Off Tournament on Friday, falling to the host Tigers 72-33.

Zack Fincher and Tajah Warren each had 10 points for the Knights, who were without star senior Jaydon Hayes for most of the game, as he exited with an injury in the first quarter.

Jamison Cook led a very balanced Fairview squad with 14 points.

“I thought the guys kept competing all 32 minutes,” said Eisenhower coach Ryan Williams. “We know that’s the best team we’ll play all year. Jaydon Hayes went down with an injury early in the first quarter and didn’t return. That really changed the game.”

The Knights will face Harbor Creek, which lost to Erie High, in the consolation game tomorrow.

(Editors note: Complete Varsity and JV box scores from both Friday and Saturday will be published in Monday’s edition of the Times Observer.).

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CCSI 43, WARREN 

COUNTY CHRISTIAN 42

A last-second shot proved to go the wrong way for Warren County Christian school in its season opening game against CCSI on Friday, as they dropped a 43-42 heartbreaker.

The Lions held a 6-point lead, 25-19 at the break, but CCSI battled back led by 20 points from Andrew Gillette.

“We just broke down a little bit in the fourth quarter,” said WCCS coach Tom Jones. “We had some key turnovers and they were able to hit that shot at the end.”

Jared Younger and Josh Jones had strong games for the Lions, scoring 15 and 12 points respectively.

“Jared Younger and Josh Jones really played well,” coach Jones said. “We just have to do a better job of rebounding.”

The Lions return to action next against Erie Bethel.

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Varsity

CCSI (43

Lashbrook 3-0-0-7, Daniel 1-0-0-2, Lashbrook 3-1-2-8, L. Mask 2-2-3-6, Andrew Gillette 8-4-6-20

WCCS (42)

J. Jones 4-4-5-12, Younger 6-2-4-15, Brenner 1-0-0-2, Kerr 2-2-2-7, Wiedner 3-0-0-6

By Quarters

CCSI 14 5 13 11 – 43

WCCS 16 9 10 7 – 42

JV

CCSI (34)

Tyson 2-0-0-4, Hemlock 4-1-4-9, Z. Mast 1-2-6-4, D. Mast 2-0-0-4, L. Mast 5-2-2-13,

WCCS (7)

Bloss 1-0-0-2, Bailey 1-0-0-2, Campbell 0-1-2-1, Hepler 1-0-0-2, Younger 0-0-2-0,