With starters Jake Kupchella and Aidan Morrison in foul trouble, Berdine came off the bench and poured in eight of his game-high and varsity career-high 14 points in the first half, and the Dragons ran away late in a 48-34 win at Joseph A. Massa Gymnasium.

“I thought our bench played well tonight,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. “Ben had a good game scoring the ball. Jake Funari played well and gave us some big minutes. Mitch (Grosch) and Ben having to play most of the first half and playing well, that was big.”

It was Berdine early, Berdine late, and a lot of Kupchella in the late stages of the third and fourth quarter, which saw the Dragons close the game on a 21-6 run after Harbor Creek took its first and only lead of the game late in the third quarter on a layup by Greg Barney, who scored a game-high 15 points.

After Barney’s bucket, Kupchella was fouled and knocked down a pair of free throws, then came down and hit a 3 on the ensuing possession to give Warren (8-7 overall, 6-3 Region 6) a 4-point lead going in the fourth quarter.

Times Observer photo by Andy Close Warren’s Jake Funari backs down Harbor Creek’s Greg Barney.

Devin McMeans opened the fourth with an offensive putback, and just like that the Warren lead was back up to six.

“Dev did a really solid job tonight,” Berdine said. “He just had that one basket, but it was a big one.”

Kupchella and Griffin Suppa followed with back-to-back 3’s, and just like that it was a 10-point lead and game over.

“We made a run at them in the fourth quarter,” coach Berdine said. “I thought we played good defense. We were trying to get them to play a little faster than what we wanted to.”

Coming off a 48-29 win at Harbor Creek earlier in the season, Berdine stressed to his team the importance of not taking the Huskies (5-11, 3-5) lightly.

Times Observer photo by Andy Close Warren’s Caleb Ei follow through on a 3-pointer in the second quarter against Harbor Creek.

“Sometimes, when you’re playing a team you beat by double digits before, I try and remind them, it’s not a continuation of last game,” he said. “You have to go out and do the things you did in the last game to re-establish why you’re the better team.”

Ei had five first quarter points, but Kupchella went to the bench with his second foul with over four minutes left in the first and Morrison did the same in the second.

Berdine nailed a 3 to start the second quarter, putting the Dragons up six, and his steal and layup made it an 8-point game before Harbor Creek cut it to five at the half.

In addition to his 14 points, Berdine had four steals, while Ei had 13 points and 9 rebounds, Kupchella 12 points, Suppa and McMeans four assists and Morrison, who briefly sat out in the second half after taking a hard fall, 5 rebounds.

The Dragons were a big winner in the JV game, 60-32. Berdine had 19 points, Payton Barnes 13 and Ryan Arnold 11.

Warren returns to action Friday at Oil City.

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HARBOR CREEK (34)

Whitman 0-0-0-0, Ca. Smith 1-0-0-2, Howell 3-0-0-8, Co. Smith 1-0-1-2, Barney 7-0-0-15, Rocco 0-0-0-0, Ennis 1-1-1-3, Stanyard 1-0-0-2, Totals 15-1-2-34

WARREN (48)

Morrison 1-0-0-2, Kupchella 4-2-2-12, McMeans 1-0-0-2, Ei 4-4-4-13, Suppa 2-0-0-5, Berdine 6-1-2-14, Grosch 0-0-0-0, Funari 0-0-0-0, Bablak 0-0-0-0, Totals 18-7-8-48

By Quarters

Harbor Creek 8 8 12 6 – 34

Warren 11 10 11 16 – 48

Three-point FGs: Harbor Creek (3) – Howell 2, Barney; Warren (5) – Kupchella 2, Berdine, Ei, Suppa