Times Observer file photo Warren point guard Tommy Nyquist shoots over Fairview’s Zach Franos earlier this season.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” and all that jazz.

Warren’s boys basketball team has gelled a lot sooner than head coach Jeff Berdine expected. And, even after two losses to Fairview in their region this season, the Dragons like the position they’re in.

Warren (16-5) will travel to Fairview (14-7) at 7 p.m. today for a District 10 4A playoff matchup.

Inspirational quotes aside, Berdine said the Dragons know what’s in store for them.

“Having been on the floor with them twice already gives us the opportunity to better assess what they do well and what we didn’t,” he said. “Both times we played decent halves versus them, but we will need to put together 32 minutes of quality hoops to walk away with a win. They are very athletic and have great size, so we will need to rebound as a team and not give them easy looks in their motion offense.”

In its second game after the COVID delay, Warren lost 54-31 at Fairview on Jan. 12 and then 62-31 a month later.

“Here, they outscored us 24-17 in the second half,” said Berdine, after the second matchup. “We needed to get better in the second half, and we did.

“There’s a difference between a fearless Dragon and a fearful Dragon. You just can’t play sports scared. You have to let it rip,” Berdine said then. “Tonight, we were physical and we were (diving) on the floor; that’s what I wanted to see.”

After that game, Warren went on to win nine straight and 10 out of 11 to finish the regular season.”

Warren will have to contend with the Tigers for a little while as they are a younger group. Younger and talented.

Junior James Sitter (6-foot-4) had 38 points over the two wins, and juniors Tyler Schultz (6-3) and Logan Frazao (6-5) had about 30 combined each over the wins.

Fairview features balanced scoring, averaging 55 points per game.

Warren’s lineup looked more comfortable as the season progressed, with five- and nine-game winning streaks. The Dragons were 10-4 in Region 5 with their only losses to first-place Harbor Creek twice and second-place Fairview twice. Warren is the 5 seed out of 8 and Fairview 4th in the playoffs.

Senior Ben Berdine averages 18 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for the Dragons, including a season-high 34 over Corry in the regular-season finale. Sophomore Parks Ordiway averages close to 14 a game and has led the team with 61 3-pointers. Senior Payton Barnes averages 10 points and has boosted the lineup since his return from a shoulder injury. J.T. Blum does a little of everything, and Tommy Nyquist runs the point as a freshman, averaging 6.1 assists per game. Bryce Blair and senior Alex Borger provide valuable minutes off the bench.

Beyond Warren at Fairview, in D10 4A, Fort LeBoeuf (8) is at Hickory (1); Oil City (6) at Grove City (3), and; Sharon (7) at Harbor Creek (2).

On Saturday, Warren’s girls basketball team, the top seed in Class 5A, hosts Franklin at 2 p.m. at Warren Area High School.