For the second-consecutive season, the Warren Lady Dragons opened the District 10 playoffs with a dominating win over Meadville, the most recent edition a 61-30 victory on Saturday at the Hagerty Family Events Center that was every bit as impressive as the score would indicate.

Sophomore Emma Ruhlman was brilliant, nearly recording a triple-double. She scored a career-high 24 points to go along with 11 rebounds, 7 steals and 4 assists.

“We came out, it was a little meh at first, but we got a lead, stepped on their throats and took it at them and didn’t stop,” Ruhlman said.

The quick start was a point of emphasis for the Lady Dragons (16-7), who led by just two at halftime of their regular-season meeting against the Lady Bulldogs.

Warren’s Kelsey Stuart follows through on a 3-point make during the second half of Saturday’s District 10 quarterfinal game against Meadville on Saturday.

“That’s pretty much all we talked about,” said Warren coach Lisa LaVan. “They are just so athletic. If you keep them off the glass, you have a chance of closing that door on them pretty good.”

They were able to do just that.

After Meadville jumped out to a very early 3-point lead, Riley Childress tied it up and Gracie Ruhlman hit a 3 from the top of the key to make it 8-5 less than four minutes into the game.

Warren never trailed again.

Not only were they able to score seemingly at will, but they put the clamps on the 1-2 Meadville (9-15) punch of Jaida Speed and Natalia Fontanez-Waid.

Warren’s Gracie Ruhlman is greeted by her mother, head coach Lisa LaVan, as she comes to the bench during Saturday’s District 10 quarterfinal game against Meadville on Saturday.

While Speed scored 11 of Meadville’s 14 first-half points, Fontanez-Waid was basically a non-factor, finishing with just two points.

Riley Childress was a big reason why. In addition to scoring 15 points, she shut down Fontanez-Waid and also had five assists.

“Riley did a fantastic job on Natalia,” LaVan said.

Added Ruhlman: “Riley held her to two points and that was huge. We did a good job shutting down 44 (Speed) and everybody did their part.”

This truly was a game where everyone did their part.

Warren's Riley Childress races up the floor after a steal.

The Lady Dragons closed the half on a 10-2 run, capped by a Carly Beers jumper that made it 28-14 at the break.

Leading 37-20 in the third, Teagan Paris, who had seven rebounds, knocked down a pair of free throws, followed by back-to-back triples by Kelsey Stuart and Taylor Childress that gave Warren its biggest lead of the game, 45-22.

“Teagan played her butt off tonight,” LaVan said. “She rebounded, she knew she had to rebound. This was a perfect game where everybody did what they were supposed to do. Gracie Ruhlman, we don’t expect you to put up 10 a game. We expect you to make open shots and rebounds and that’s what she did. Kelsey came off the bench and did great.”

Stuart has worked her way back from a serious injury and is looking like her usual self. She finished with six points.

“She’s a good spark off the bench, especially when we need extra ball-handling and someone who can knock down shots. She had a really nice game.”

Riley Childress and Emma Ruhlman lived at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, and Ruhlman knocked down a pair with 3:22 to for her final points of the night before she exited.

“Once my pull-ups started to fall, I felt really good,” she said.

There were no upsets in the 5A quarterfinals, meaning Warren will take on Grove City (Wednesday, Oil City H.S., 6 p.m.) in the semifinals, along with a matchup between Slippery Rock and Harbor Creek.

For a program that went 0-6 in the playoffs in LaVan’s first seven years as head coach, this has become the new norm, as the Lady Dragons now seek their third District 10 title in the last five years.

“I told them at the beginning, we’ve been doing this for 12 years, and the first 7 years, all we wanted to do was win a game,” LaVan said. “It took us seven years to win a playoff game and now we’re to the point where we’re expected to win playoff games. Is that the pressure that you guys get? Absolutely. You can either be nervous and scared about that pressure or rise to the occasion and start carrying the torch.

“You have to reflect a little bit. When I took over this program they were little tykes. Taylor was maybe in second grade. Emma and them were just starting to get into it. You started in this program, and you’ve made it the whole way through. We’ve built this awesome program that has blossomed into one of the best in District 10. I mean sure, my staff and I have put in the work, but we just have hard-nosed kids that are just so tough and they showed that again today.”

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MEADVILLE (30)

Longo 1-0-0-2, Fontanez-Waid 1-0-0-2, Gilbert 2-0-0-5, Johnson 1-2-2-5, Speed 6-2-4-14, McCoy 1-0-0-2, Buzzard 0-0-0-0, Templin 0-0-0-0, Chew 0-0-0-0, Totals 12-4-8-30

WARREN (61)

T. Childress 1-0-0-3, R. Childress 5-5-10-15, E. Ruhlman 7-10-12-24, Paris 1-2-4-4, G. Ruhlman 1-2-4-5, C. Beers 1-2-2-4, Stuart 2-1-2-6, Munksgard 0-0-0-0, Ordiway 0-0-0-0, M. Beers 0-0-0-0, Gatto 0-0-0-0, Albaugh 0-0-0-0, Alburger 0-0-0-0, Totals 18-22-34-61

By Quarters

Meadville 9 5 10 6 – 30

Warren 16 12 17 16 – 61

Three-point FGs: Meadville (2) – Gilbert, Johnson; Warren (3) – G. Ruhlman, T. Childress, Stuart