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Dragons drop close battle in Region 6 opener

TITUSVILLE, Pa. – If Wednesday’s game against Titusville is any indication, Region 6 boys basketball is going to be a battle all season long.

Warren stormed back from a 9-point second half deficit, but Titusville’s JaiQuil Johnson was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch, part of a 29-point effort that lifted the Rockets to a 63-60 victory.

“We were right there … it was two evenly-matched teams,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. “They did a good job of making their foul shots down the stretch.”

The Dragons played a much better game, especially on the offensive end, then they did in a 42-40 loss to St. Marys on Monday.

Point guard Griffin Suppa had a team-high 22 points, including 16 in the second half as the Dragons (2-4 overall, 0-1 Region 3) came back.

Warren actually led 28-23 at halftime, but the Rockets (5-1, 1-0), led by Johnson, Cade Skinner and Guy Anthony, came out blazing in the third quarter to re-take the lead.

Johnson had 17 of his 29 in the second half.

“He’s the best guard we’ve seen yet,” Berdine said. “He made a couple 3’s in the first half where we just didn’t get a hand up on him.”

Caleb Ei continued his strong play for the Dragons with 18 points, while Aidan Morrison scored seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter with fellow starter Jake Kupchella saddled with foul trouble.

“Offensively, we played a much better game than we did against St. Marys,” Berdine said. “We had balance and a lot more patience.”

Berdine did note, however, that the Dragons got caught on a couple bad switches, allowing Titusville’s bigs, Guy Anthony and Cole Culver, to get a pair of key offensive putbacks.

Defending home court is going to be critical, with so many evenly matched teams in the region, which also includes General McLane, Oil City, Harbor Creek, Corry and Fort LeBoeuf.

But, the Dragons were almost able to steal this one on the road.

“There’s going to be a lot of tough games,” Berdine said. “We had an opportunity to steal one tonight and we weren’t quite able to finish it out.”

Suppa, Kupchella, Ei and Devin McMeans all had three assists for the Dragons, while Morrison pulled down a team-high 7 rebounds and Ei 4.

The Dragons were once again a big winner in the JV game, 70-44.

Sophomore Ben Berdine, who got on the board with a 3 in the varsity game, led the JVs with 16 points, while Ryan Rafalski added 13 and Tom Bablak 11.

Warren has a chance to defend its home court on Friday, when they welcome McLane.

– – –

WARREN (60)

Morrison 4-4-4-13, Kupchella 2-0-0-4, McMeans 0-0-0-0, Ei 7-4-7-18, Suppa 8-4-5-22, Berdine 1-0-0-3, Grosch 0-0-0-0, Bablak 0-0-0-0, Funari 0-0-0-0, Totals 22-12-16-60

TITUSVILLE (63)

Johnson 9-8-11-29, Perez 0-0-0-0, Skinner 5-0-1-12, Roberts 3-0-0-7, Culver 2-2-4-6, Platt 0-0-2-0, Caryl 0-0-0-0, Anthony 4-1-1-9, Totals 23-11-19-63

By Quarters

Warren 14 14 11 21 – 60

Titusville 17 6 18 22 – 63

Three-point FGs: Warren (4) – Suppa 2, Morrison, Berdine; Titusville (6) – Johnson 3, Skinner 2, Roberts

– – –

JV

WARREN (70)

Rafalski 4-2-2-13, R. Arnold 1-2-3-4, Berdine 8-0-1-16, Bablak 5-0-0-11, B. Arnold 0-0-0-0, Gustafson 0-0-1-0, Hussey 2-0-0-5, Borger 1-0-0-3, Swanson 3-0-0-7, Barnes 4-0-0-9, Salapek 1-0-0-2, Totals 29-4-7-70

TITUSVILLE (44)

Perez 2-4-4-9, Jones 2-0-2-4, Stover 1-0-0-2, Titus 0-1-2-1, Beach 2-6-9-10, Colon 6-3-5-17, Caryl 0-1-2-1, Banner 0-0–0-0, Survey 0-0-0-0, Totals 13-15-24-44

By Quarters

Warren 18 22 14 16 – 70

Titusville 13 4 9 18 – 44

Three-point FGs: Warren (8) – Rafalski 3, Bablak, Hussey, Borger, Swanson, Barnes; Titusville (3) – Colon 2, Perez

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