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Dragons roll past Brockway, into final of Brookville Tip-Off

BROOKVILLE, Pa. – Warren overcame a slow start to rout Brockway in the opening game of the Brookville Tip-Off Tournament, 67-41.

Junior Ben Berdine scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the first half as the Dragons, who trailed 19-14 at the end of the first quarter, outscored the Rovers 21-3 in the second quarter and 53-22 over the final three quarters.

“I think this is the first time in my 18 years that I haven’t had one returning starter,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. “We didn’t get off to a good start. We settled in on defense, made a couple of adjustments on how were were going to guard their top two kids, Freemer and Wood, and I thought we did a good job.”

Coach Berdine also noted the unselfish play of his team on the offensive end. Thomas Bablak, who spent the first half in foul trouble, scored 13 points, while Peyton Barnes scored 12 points and dished out five assists.

“Ben had a huge first half with Thomas on the bench in foul trouble,” coach Berdine said.

This was a total team effort for the Dragons, who had eight different players find the scoring column.

Ryan Rafalski and Avery Vazquez each had five points in the second half.

Alec Freemer led Brockway with 19 points.

Berdine and Rafalski had four steals each, while Tyler Gustafson added three. Bablak pulled down a team-high six rebounds.

“We were very unselfish,” coach Berdine said. “I thought the kids did a really good job finding the open guy and finishing their opportunities. This was a good one to get going.”

Up next for the Dragons are the host Brookville Raiders in the title game tonight at 7:30 p.m. The Raiders dispatched of St. Joe’s Academy 86-39.

– – –

WARREN (67)

Arnold 1-0-0-2, Borger 0-0-0-0, Rafalski 3-0-2-7, Berdine 11-2-5-24, Bablak 6-1-1-13, Grosch 1-0-0-2, Gustafson 0-0-0-0, Blair 0-0-0-0, Swanson 1-0-0-2, Barnes 5-0-0-12, Vazquez 2-0-0-5, Totals 30-4-9-67

BROCKWAY (41)

Wood 3-0-0-9, Schmader 0-0-0-0, Adams 2-0-0-4, Freemer 8-0-0-19, Copeli 3-1-2-7, Painter 1-0-0-2, Snell 0-0-0-0, Bennett 0-0-0-0, Bullers 0-0-0-0, Totals 17-1-2-41

By Quarters

Warren 14 21 12 20 – 67

Brockway 19 3 10 9 – 41

Three-point FGs: Warren (3) – Barnes 2, Rafalski; Brockway (6) – Wood 3, Freemer 3

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