It was tough, physical and not always pretty, but at the end of the day the Dragons defended their home court with a 42-36 win.

“That’s a typical Region 6 basketball game,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. “For people who wanted a good look and feel for how it’s played in terms of the physicality, competitiveness and how close these teams really are, that’s it in a nutshell.”

The Huskies took their first lead of the game in the third quarter, 27-24 on a Sam Howell 3-pointer. That was during a 6-minute scoreless stretch that went back to the second quarter for Warren.

Enter Drew Swanson.

Warren’s Ryan Arnold makes a pass during the first half of Friday’s Region 6 contest against Harbor Creek.

The senior gave the Dragons big minutes off the bench and came up with the most important play of the game. Trailing 27-25 midway through the third, Swanson collected an offensive rebound and the ball eventually worked its way back to him for a corner 3.

Bang.

The Dragons never trailed again.

“Drew hit the biggest shot of the game,” Berdine said. “Huge shot. We make our bigs and our guards shoot that corner 3 all the time in practice. His bucket there and then Peyton (Barnes) got an open jumper on the next possession that he made. Big sequence for us.”

Still, the Dragons led by just one going into the fourth quarter.

Warren's Tom Bablak claps his hands in approval late in the fourth quarter of the Dragons' 42-36 win over Harbor Creek.

That’s when Ben Berdine took over.

The junior and Dragons’ leading scorer had just two points through three quarters, but scored eight of his ten points in the fourth as Warren (4-4 overall, 1-2 Region 6) scored the first six points of the period to assume control.

“I thought we outplayed them in every facet,” coach Berdine said. ” We got turnovers out of our trap and we did a great job rebounding and adjusting to the style of play. It was a physical game.”

He did allude to what was able to keep the Huskies (5-4, 1-1) close, however. Fifteen turnovers and 2-of-8 shooting from the free throw line.

“You do that, you let a good team hang around,” Berdine added.

The Flannel Panel smiles as they cheer on the Dragons to victory.

Berdine hit a big shot with the Dragons up three and 25 seconds left, taking

advantage of an open baseline as the Huskies decided not to foul.

Tom Bablak, who finished with a game-high 14 points, got an offensive putback with 10 seconds to go to seal the win.

“Really proud of the way the kids battled tonight,” Berdine said. “I thought we got really good minutes off the bench again from Ryan (Rafalski), TJ (Tyler Gustafson) and Drew.”

The Dragons, much like they did in their previous game again Bradford, got off to quick start, scoring the first nine points of the game.

Barnes scored seven of his nine points in the first quarter, and back-to-back buckets by Bablak to open the second allowed the Dragons to maintain that lead.

Harbor Creek closed it to four at halftime (24-20), however, thanks to the strong play off the bench of Ryan Whitman, who finished with a team-high 12 points.

Bablak had nine steals and two blocks to go with his 14 points, while Berdine had eight rebounds and two blocks and Mitch Grosch and Rafalski three assists each.

“I was real happy with the intensity tonight,” Berdine added. “I thought we played a good game in terms of overall effort.”

The Dragons return to action on Tuesday with another Region 6 tilt at Oil City.

– – –

HARBOR CREEK (36)

Ca. Smith 2-0-0-4, Howell 1-1-2-4, Ennis 0-2-2-2, Stanyard 3-2-3-8, Co. Smith 2-0-0-4, Whitman 4-3-4-12, Kline 1-0-0-2, Totals 13-8-11-36

WARREN (42)

Arnold 0-1-3-1, Berdine 5-0-1-10, Bablak 6-1-2-14, Grosch 1-0-0-2, Barnes 4-0-0-9, Rafalski 0-0-2-0, Gustafson 1-0-0-3, Swanson 1-0-0-3, Totals 18-2-8-42

By Quarters

Harbor Creek 8 12 9 7 – 36

Warren 11 13 6 12 – 42

Three-point FGs: Harbor Creek (2) – Whitman, Howell; Warren (4) – Swanson, Gustafson, Bablak, Barnes

– – –

JV

HARBOR CREEK (46)

Kienholz 1-0-2-2, Rocco 6-1-4-16, Kruszrwski 1-0-2-2, Hopwood 2-0-0-4, Stanyard 1-0-1-3, Ennis 3-0-0-8, Berchtold 0-1-2-1, Yale 4-0-0-8, Breese 0-2-2-2, Totals 18-4-13-46

WARREN (38)

Ordiway 3-1-1-8, Borger 1-1-2-3, White 0-2-4-2, Rich 1-0-0-2, Lyon 0-0-0-0, Blum 4-0-0-10, McMeans 0-0-0-0, Vega 1-0-0-2, Arford 0-0-0-0, Blair 5-0-0-11, Darling 0-0-0-0, Totals 15-4-7-38

By Quarters

Harbor Creek 12 8 19 7 – 46

Warren 5 9 12 12 – 38

Three-point FGs: Harbor Creek (6) – Rocco 3, Ennis 2, Stanyard; Warren (4) – Blum 2, Ordiway, Blair

– – –

FRESHMEN

Mercyhurst Prep 33, Warren 26

Warren: Nebinski 1-0-0-3, Teconchuk 0-0-0-0, Becker 3-0-0-6, Errett1-0-0-2, Farr 1-0-0-2, Darling 3-2-2-8, Lynds 1-0-3-2, Strandburg 0-1-2-1, Creal 0-0-0-0, Wyman 0-0-0-0

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