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Dragons fall in Region 6 clash with Lancers

Warren and General McLane traded body blows for 32 minutes on Friday, a style of play that has defined an ultra-competitive Region 6 this season.

In the end, it was the Lancers, led by Eli Bruce’s three fourth-quarter 3’s that came away with a well-deserved 47-42 win at Joseph A. Massa Gymnasium.

“It got to a point where it was basically who was going to blink first,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. “They are a tough matchup for us. They are very physical, long and athletic.”

The Dragons entered the fourth quarter with a 35-34 lead and went up 37-34 on a Payton Barnes jumper.

That’s when Bruce went off, however.

After the Dragons’ Barnes and Ben Berdine and GM’s Eli and Danny Bruce took turns trading 3’s in the third, it was all Eli in the fourth.

He canned consecutive triples to give the Lancers (12-4 overall, 5-3 Region 6) a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“Eli Bruce hit some big shots for them,” noted Berdine. “He did the same thing there, but it was in the first half. “We didn’t do a good job switching on screens and he got hot.”

The Dragons (9-6, 5-3), who came in winners of seven of their last eight games and tied for first in the region, had six consecutive empty offensive trips after Barnes’ shot put them up three.

“Those are opportunities that slip away in close games,” coach Berdine said.

Ryan Rafalski’s triple got them to within 1, 43-42 with 1:52 to play, and GM missed a pair of front ends of 1-and-1’s, but the Dragons turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions in the final 90 seconds, and the Lancers took advantage.

“When you don’t get shots, that’s a killer,” Berdine said.

There were 15 combined made 3’s in the contest, 10 of which came in the second half after what was mostly a grind it out type of opening half.

“We showed a lot of fight,” Berdine said. “It’s one of those games when you learn a lot about your kids. It was exactly how I expected, except that I thought we would walk away with the victory. I tell our kids you have to be in it with four minutes left and you have to make more plays inside of four minutes and tonight they did.”

Eli Bruce finished with 20 points for the Lancers, who swept the season series after a 2-point win on their home floor on Dec. 20.

For Warren, Barnes finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, Berdine 11 points and Tom Bablak nine.

Mitch Grosch and Ryan Arnold had four assists each.

“Those are the games you want to be in,” coach Berdine said. “Those are the ones you practice for, why you put the work in, to play these kinds of games in front of a great crowd. It was a great environment.”

– – –

GENERAL MCLANE (47)

Matthews 2-1-3-5, A. Bruce 0-4-9-4, Jones 1-0-2-2, E. Bruce 6-3-4-20, D. Bruce 6-0-1-14, Seneta 1-0-1-2, Conn 0-0-0-0, Campbell 0-0-0-0, Totals 16-8-20-47

WARREN (42)

Arnold 0-0-0-0, Berdine 4-0-0-11, Bablak 3-2-2-9, Grosch 0-0-2-0, Barnes 6-0-0-15, Gustafson 0-0-0-0, Rafalski 1-2-2-5, Swanson 1-0-0-2, Blair 0-0-0-0, Blum 0-0-0-0, Totals 15-4-6-42

By Quarters

General McLane 10 5 19 13 – 47

Warren 7 12 16 7 – 42

Three-point FGs: General McLane (7) – E. Bruce 5, D. Bruce 2; Warren (8) – Barnes 3, Berdine 3, Rafalski, Bablak

– – –

JV

GENERAL MCLANE (52)

Weber 3-0-3-9, Kennedy 1-0-0-2, Ah Wong 6-5-6-20, Jukes 1-0-0-2, Schreiber 0-3-6-3, Hahn 4-0-0-9, Williams 3-1-1-7, Totals 18-6-16-52

WARREN (45)

Ordiway 0-0-0-0, White 0-0-0-0, Rich 0-0-0-0, Blum 5-4-4-15, Vega 1-0-0-2, Arford 0-0-0-0, Blair 5-0-0-11, Greene 8-1-1-17, Totals 19-5-5-45

By Quarters

General McLane 7 15 12 18 – 52

Warren 11 15 9 10 – 45

Three-point FGs: General McLane (7) – Ah Wong 3, Weber 3, Hahn; Warren (2) – Blum, Blair

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