But as hot as the Dragons were offensively early in the game, they couldn’t get key shots to fall late, and it was the Lancers that took over first place with a 60-51 victory.

“We had three wonderful opportunities where we got great looks and didn’t finish,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. “And that’s what a game like this comes down to. I wouldn’t even say we bad possessions. We got great shots, they just didn’t go in. That’s the difference in the game.”

Trailing 52-48 after a Caleb Ei bucket with 3:03 to go, the Dragons (7-7 overall, 5-3 Region 6) turned GM over twice on steals by Griffin Suppa and Ei inside of three minutes.

But, as Berdine alluded to, the shots didn’t fall and McLane, specifically Seth Myers, who finished with a game-high 21 points, made their free throws to close out the game.

Times Observer photo by Andy Close Warren’s Jake Kupchella looks to make a pass inside as he is defended by General McLane’s Logan Donahue during the second half of Friday’s Region 6 battle.

“We had trouble with them before in Warren in the second half on the offensive glass,” Berdine noted. “Today I thought they (McLane) were very solid on the offensive glass.”

As much as they struggled late in the game, Warren seemingly couldn’t miss in the opening quarter, jumping out to a 21-15 lead and leading by as many as eight.

Devin McMeans, coming off a strong offensive game in an overtime victory over Titusville earlier in the week, nailed a pair of corner 3’s, Jake Kupchella had an old-school 3-point play and Mitch Grosch and Ei finished the quarter with consecutive buckets.

But Myers, Region 6’s second-leading scorer at just over 20 per game, took over, going on a personal 10-0 run to give McLane a 22-21 lead midway through the second quarter.

The GM (13-3, 6-2) sharpshooter scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half.

Times Observer photo by Andy Close Warren’s Caleb Ei (33) and Griffin Suppa (35) defend General McLane’s Seth Myers as he makes a pass during Friday’s game. Myers scored 21 points and Ei 19 as the Lancers came away with a 60-51 victory.

“I reminded the kids Myers and (Logan) Donahue weren’t going to miss as many shots as they did in Warren,” said Berdine. “They were going to make shots and we had to be ready for them to make shots. We had to weather the storm and I think we did.”

Suppa stopped the rally with a 3 and Aidan Morrsion followed with a triple of his own to put the Dragons back up three, but Myers and Donahue hit back-to-back long balls to close the half, giving McLane a 30-27 halftime advantage.

McLane never relinquished the lead in the second half, taking an 8-point advantage on a Donahue 3 with 3:53 to go in the third quarter.

“We had three bad possessions. Those three possessions gave them the opportunity to get a working margin, and against a good team you can’t do that,” Berdine said.

The Dragons cut the margin to 2 midway through the fourth on a Kupchella 3-pointer, but every time they got close, McLane had an answer.

Times Observer photo by Andy Close Warren’s Aidan Morrison fires a pass to an open teammate during the first half of Friday’s game against General McLane.

“There were a couple of bang-bang charge calls that could have went either way that didn’t go our way,” said Berdine. “And they just made more shots than we did. I know when we watch the film we’ll be disappointed.”

Ei finished with 19 points and Kupchella 13 for Warren, while Donahue added 12 for the Lancers.

Ei also had eight rebounds and Suppa five assists for the Dragons.

With the win, GM moved 1/2 game in front of idle Titusville and a full game ahead of Warren in the region.

The Dragons return to action Tuesday, hosting Harbor Creek.

– – –

WARREN (51)

Morrison 2-0-0-5, Kupchella 4-3-3-13, McMeans 3-0-0-9, Ei 8-2-4-19, Suppa 1-0-0-3, Grosch 1-0-0-2, Funari 0-0-0-0, Berdine 0-0-0-0, Bablak 0-0-0-0, Totals 19-5-7-51

GENERAL MCLANE (60)

Myers 5-9-13-21, Jones 4-0-3-8, Jukes 3-0-0-6, Donahue 5-0-1-12, E. Bruce 1-0-0-3, Renick 3-0-0-6, Scrutchins 0-0-0-0, Harvey 1-0-0-2, A. Bruce 0-0-0-0, Kulyk 0-0-0-0, Totals 23-9-17-60

By Quarters

Warren 21 6 11 13 – 51

General McLane 15 15 13 17 – 60

Three-point FGs: Warren (8) – McMeans 3, Kupchella 2, Morrison, Suppa, Ei; General McLane (5) – Myers 2, Donahue 2, E. Bruce

– – –

JV

WARREN (31)

R. Arnold 1-0-0-2, Rafalski 1-2-2-5, Berdine 3-3-6-10, Bablak 2-1-2-5, Gustafson 0-0-0-0, Hussey 1-1-1-3, Borger 0-0-0-0, Swanson 1-0-0-2, Barnes 2-0-0-4, Vazquez 0-0-0-0, Salapek 0-0-0-0, Morse 0-0-0-0, Totals 11-7-11-31

GENERAL MCLANE (49)

Campbell 0-1-2-1, Scrutchins 4-0-0-11, Matthews 1-0-2-3, Conn 1-0-0-3, A. Bruce 3-0-0-6, J. Hahn 5-2-2-14, Williams 2-0-0-4, T. Hahn 0-0-0-0, D. Bruce 3-0-0-6, Regan 0-0-1-0, Totals 19-4-9-49

By Quarters

Warren 7 9 8 7 – 31

General McLane 12 9 15 13 – 49

Three-point FGs: Warren (2) – Rafalski, Berdine; General McLane (7) – Scrutchins 3, J. Hahn 2, Matthews, Conn