In front of a packed house, Warren’s five senior starters kept the crowd engaged in a 72-44 Region 5 win on Senior Night.

After a few misses on both ends, Kody Vega connected on a 3-pointer on an inbounds play from JT Blum. Justice Greene put Warren up 5-0 on an inside feed from Vega.

Conneaut battled back, but the Dragons spread the ball around for a seven-point first-quarter lead.

“It was good to get JT, Bryce (Blair), Justice, Justin (Rich) and Kody all some work in the same game at the same time,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine. “You’ve got to have some senior leadership, and they have done a good job this year with a lot of younger kids being in the mix.”

Photo courtesy of Mark Evans Warren senior Bryce Blair drives in for a layup during the Dragons’ 72-44 Region 5 victory over Conneaut, Tuesday at Warren Area High School. Blair was one of 5 senior starters for Warren on its senior night.

Sophomore Brady Berdine had 9 of his game-high 15 points in Warren’s big third quarter.

“The 29-8 third quarter was where we really put the pressure on them and turned it up a little bit,” said Coach Berdine.

The Dragons are 13-8 overall and 10-3 in Region 5 with one region game left on Friday at Fort LeBoeuf. Conneaut is winless at 0-19 overall and 0-13 in the region.

“We made a couple adjustments in our trap (defense) based on how they played it the first time and it paid dividends tonight,” said Coach Berdine.

Nine Dragons scored points on Tuesday. Blum added 13 points, sophomore point guard Tommy Nyquist 11 in limited time, Greene 8, Parks Ordiway and Owen Becker 7 each in limited time, Vega 5, Blair 4 and Jack Darling 2.

“I’m so happy for our players that the kids show up and support each other,” Coach Berdine said of Senior Night. “There were a lot of seniors in that crowd tonight, cheering on their classmates, so I was extremely happy to see that turnout for them, and have them all have an opportunity to get in there together.

“Now we have some work to do,” he added. “We’ve got a big one on the road Friday night — the last region game left before we figure out where our playoff seeding’s going to fall. We have to take care of business … and go to Fort LeBoeuf on Friday night and get a victory.”

Brady Berdine also led Warren in scoring in the junior varsity game with 13 points and Braylon Barnes contributed 12 in a 60-31 rout. Konnor Hoffman’s 8 points all came in a 48-17 first half. Jakob Turk finished with 6 points, Carson Chase 5, Aidan Zdarko and Darling 4 each, Johnny Corbett and Dylan Johnson hit 3-pointers, and Anthony Errett added a bucket.

CONNEAUT (44)

Welcheck 3 0-0 7, Perrye 4 0-0 12, Nicolls 3 0-1 6, Fuhrer 1 0-0 3, Richardson 4 3-3 13, Nottingham 1 0-2 3, Shelatz 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 3-6 44.

WARREN (72)

Ordiway 3 0-0 7, Barnes 0 0-0 0, Berdine 6 3-3 15, Darling 0 2-2 2, Nyquist 5 0-0 11, Rich 0 0-0 0, Errett 0 0-2 0, Blum 5 3-4 13, Vega 2 0-0 5, Becker 3 1-1 7, Blair 2 0-0 4, Hoffman 0 0-0 0, Greene 4 0-0 8. Totals 30 9-12 72.

3-point goals–Welcheck, Perrye 4, Fuhrer, Richardson 2, Nottingham, Ordiway, Nyquist, Vega.

Conneaut 13 9 8 14 — 44

Warren 20 14 29 9 — 72

Jayvees: Warren won 60-31.