File photo courtesy of Mark Evans Warren junior point guard Tommy Nyquist shoots a free throw, with senior teammate Owen Becker (21) in foreground, in a game versus Titusville at Warren Area High School. The Dragons (15-7) play Slippery Rock (11-11) at 6 p.m. Thursday at Cathedral Prep’s Hagerty Family Events Center in Erie in the District 10 4A playoff quarterfinals.

It’s safe to say Warren’s and Slippery Rock’s boys basketball teams are peaking heading into their District 10 4A playoff quarterfinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Cathedral Prep’s Hagerty Family Events Center in Erie.

The Dragons have won five straight and eight of their last 10 to finish the regular season at 15-7 overall. Warren finishes as the top-seeded Class 4A team in the competitive Region 6, and is the top seed in this eight-team playoff bracket.

Slippery Rock is just 11-11 overall and the No. 8 seed. However, the Rockets enter the playoffs on fire. A win on Friday over Grove City — Slippery Rock’s first win over the Eagles in 10 years — was enough to force the District 10 basketball committee to move from a six-team to eight-team playoff field.

Friday’s win was Slippery Rock’s fifth in six games, and essentially a play-in game.

“Both teams have gotten hot at the right time,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine, who has said all season that Class 4A is wide open, no matter the seeding. “We enter the playoffs with the same goal every time out, which is to win the D10 title. Slippery Rock played in a really competitive region this year and has been in playoff mode for its last two regular-season games due to the need for them to win out and make D10’s decision on a six- or eight-team bracket difficult.”

The Rockets finished as the fourth 4A team in Region 5, behind playoff teams in region-champion Grove City (13-9 overall), Hickory (13-8) and Sharon (11-11). Harbor Creek (11-11) is the top 4A seed out of the 4A-5A-6A Region 7 with General McLane (10-10).

In addition to the Warren-Slippery Rock game, No. 3 Harbor Creek meets No. 6 Sharon at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, also at the Hagerty Family Events Center.

At Farrell High School on Thursday, No. 4 Hickory plays No. 5 General McLane at 6 p.m. and No. 2 Grove City meets No. 7 Corry (11-11) at 7:30 p.m.

The Dragons are focused on senior-led Slippery Rock, which had three players in double figures in its 62-56 win Friday over Grove City. It was a sophomore, Josh Book, who led the Rockets with 16 points.

“They are an athletic team and overall we matchup well with them,” said Berdine. “Should be a good opportunity for us to continue our recent streak of playing well. We have been balanced offensively lately, which has helped us when someone doesn’t shoot or play as well as they are capable. One of the keys for us will be to continue to be unselfish and pass up the good and better shots for the best one in every scenario.”

Warren’s balanced offense includes five players averaging double figures in scoring, including junior point guard Tommy Nyquist (12.3), junior Brady Berdine (12.0), senior Parks Ordiway (11.8), junior Braylon Barnes (10.4), and senior Owen Becker (10.3). First off the bench, junior Konnor Hoffman contributes in many ways, but has also reached double figures in scoring. Nyquist averages 6.2 assists per game and Berdine 3.2. Becker averages 5.9 rebounds per game, Berdine 5.5, Barnes 4.5, Hoffman 3.7 and Nyquist 3.0. Hoffman averages 2.3 steals per game.