Submitted Photo The Warren girls basketball season opens on Friday and Saturday at the Dragons’ tip-off tournament at Warren Area High School.

Warren’s girls basketball program has had its moments, including three District 10 championships and five trips to states in five years, but the 2023-2024 rendition wants “more.”

More of everything.

“They want more,” said longtime Warren head coach Lisa LaVan, whose career record is 247-116 over 15 seasons. “They were happy with what they did last year, but not satisfied. Our mantra this year is ‘Blue Collar Work.’ That is what we do and what this team does more than other groups that have come before them. They just roll up their sleeves and get to work together. No superstars, just hardworking young ladies.”

This group has almost everyone back from a team that finished 18-8 with a Region 5 title and trip to the PIAA Class 4A Championships with a District 10 consolation-game win.

“I have been blessed with 15 and now 16 amazing years coaching this program,” said LaVan. “I have done it with some amazing assistant coaches through the years, for sure, and I would be nothing without them. It is so fun to watch these girls develop into young ladies and it is just so rewarding. I know I am not easy to play for. I demand a lot and there are many tough days and nights. We all stay the course, though, and trust the process, and by doing so we have won a lot of games together. All these young ladies have touched my life in some way and I just hope I gave back enough in return. This group is really no different. They are hungry and ready to get to work like everyone that came before them.”

Two of three seniors, Sammie Ruhlman and Halle Kuzminski, are returning starters and first-team region all-stars and soon-to-be college basketball players. Last season’s co-Region 5 Player of the Year, Ruhlman has signed to play for Division II D’Youville University in Buffalo, New York, beginning next fall.

Ruhlman averaged more than 9 points per game, plus six assists and five rebounds. Kuzminski averaged more than 8 points and led the team with more than seven rebounds a game. Seniors Ruhlman, Kuzminski and Caitlin Barney, and junior Alyssa Farr are the Dragons’ team captains.

Farr and second-team region all-star Alana Stuart, also a junior, are also returning starters and among eight returning letter winners. Junior Emily Davidson and sophomores Meea Irwin, Emma Roell and Peyton Wotorson are also returning letter winners. Sophomore Emma Rarey and freshmen Maggie Bennett, Adi Cullers and Peyton Hagg round out the roster of 13.

“This group wants that region title again and they want to get back to the D10 championship game,” said LaVan. “They are ready to roll.”

The only starter not returning is Gracie Ruhlman, who graduated after being part of two D10 titles. She is also the second of LaVan’s three daughters to have graduated from Warren Area High School; the first being Emma Ruhlman, who scored 1,448 career points and was named all-state three times before moving on to play at DII Hillsdale College in Michigan.

Sammie will be the last of LaVan’s daughters to suit up for the Dragons. Is it hitting the coach a bit differently this time around?

“Maybe some,” said LaVan. “They have always been on the sideline, on the bench, or in uniform for me. That alone is a lot to reflect on. I have taken the view that I must live in the moment. Said another way, be where your feet are at. That has always kept me grounded and has allowed me to enjoy the moments; all of them. Control what you can control. My program has always lived by that as well. Each game. Each quarter. Each possession. Leave it all out there at that moment, control what you can control, and get after it.”

Warren’s season opens on Friday and Saturday at the Dragons’ tip-off tournament at Warren Area High School.

Their season schedule includes teams to watch in Fairview, Harbor Creek, Conneaut, Grove City and Franklin, and a three-game trip to Tampa, Florida, from Dec. 26 through Jan. 2.

What is not in the numbers or the schedule is “the joy they play with,” said LaVan of this group. “It will be seen soon enough, but they truly love each other and play with great joy. With everything going on in this world, what more could you ask for as a coach? Joy.”