It’s the third straight year the defending D10 champion Hornets eliminated Warren, but bright days are ahead for the Dragons.

“At times tonight, we had three sophomores and a junior out there, or four sophomores,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine, whose Dragons end the season at 14-9 overall. “These are the type of games they need to build on moving forward to next year.”

Warren was forced to foul late in the fourth quarter. The Dragons cut the lead to six points — 45-39 Hickory — with three minutes to play before the Hornets added four points on their next trip down the floor.

Adon Enoch was fouled and hit the front end of the 1-and-1. He missed the second free throw attempt, but 6-foot-5 senior forward Jackson Pryts powered up the offensive rebound for a bucket and the foul. His “And 1” gave Hickory a 10-point lead that quickly.

Warren sophomore point guard Tommy Nyquist shoots over Hickory senior forward Jackson Pryts during the Hornets’ 58-45 District 10 4A quarterfinal playoff win on Thursday at Sharon High School. Pryts is a 6-foot-5 Penn State D1 football commit. Photo courtesy of Mark Evans

“We talked during practice this week about having to try to be physical, and be ready to go early, and I don’t think that happened tonight,” said Berdine.

Berdine added: “We left a lot of opportunities on the table. Against a good team like that, when you have an opportunity to take a lead, you have to do it. We had a lot of opportunities and we didn’t cash in on them. We let them establish what they wanted to do, and offensively I don’t think we did a good job of creating tempo. Some of it was them taking us out of some things, but when we run the dribble-drive, it’s about creating tempo; it’s not about quick shots, it’s about ball movement, get people moving on defense, and then attack. We did it at times, but I thought we were pretty impatient tonight against a good defensive team.”

Tyson Djackovich had two 3-pointers and Pryts four points in a 16-8 Hornets’ first quarter.

Djackovich’s third ‘3’ of the half helped Hickory build a 21-9 second-quarter lead.

Warren senior JT Blum’s steal and driving bucket cut Hickory’s lead to 28-16, and the Dragons’ held the Hornets scoreless for the last two minutes of the first half.

Warren played much better in the second half. Tommy Nyquist scored 9 of his 12 points in the second half to help keep Warren in it.

Trailing 45-34, Parks Ordiway hit his only bucket of the game, a 3-pointer to cut Hickory’s lead to 8 points with 3:32 left.

After a stop, Nyquist inbounded to Blum for a quick score and 45-39 deficit. That was as close as Warren would get.

“When you’re playing in the playoffs, you need everybody to play at the level they’re capable of playing,” said Berdine. “We didn’t do that tonight.”

Pryts led Hickory’s physical effort with 16 points. Blum finished with 14 for Warren, Nyquist 12, and Brady Berdine 8 points.

Hickory (15-7) was 14-for-20 at the free throw line in the final quarter to advance.

WARREN (45)

Ordiway 1 0-0 3, Barnes 2 0-0 6, Berdine 4 0-0 8, Nyquist 4 4-6 12, Rich 0 0-0 0, Blum 5 4-4 14, Vega 0 0-0 0, Becker 1 0-0 2, Blair 0 0-0 0, Hoffman 0 0-0 0, Greene 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 8-10 45.

HICKORY (58)

Enoch 0 6-8 6, Evangeusta 0 1-2 1, TMele 3 3-4 10, Swanson 1 0-0 2, Fazzone 3 4-6 10, Djackovich 5 0-0 13, Daniels 0 0-0 0, Uberti 0 0-1 0, Pryts 7 2-2 16. Totals 19 16-23 58.

3-point field goals — Ordiway, Barnes 2, TMele, Djackovich 3.

Warren 8 8 14 15 — 45

Hickory 16 12 11 19 — 58