Brady Berdine scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the first half, and unbeaten Warren led by 30 after three quarters.

“We’ve spent our entire season playing bigger schools,” said Salamanca coach Adam Bennett, whose Warriors — ranked second in New York in Class B — are 4-2 overall with the loss. “…No excuses. This one was a combination of, Warren outplayed us, outcoached us; I just want to be clear, we got beat.”

Konnor Hoffman scored eight points in the first quarter “to get us going,” said Warren coach Jeff Berdine, whose Dragons are 8-0, “and we were able to get into our transition game early.

“Tommy (Nyquist) did a heck of a job on Lucus Brown; Lucas is a heck of a player,” said Coach Berdine of Salamanca’s all-time leading scorer. Brown was held to two first-quarter points and 13 for the game to lead the Warriors. “We really talked about trying to shut down Lucus and Avery Brown.”

Warren’s Konnor Hoffman attempts to drive past Salamanca (N.Y.) defender Maddox Isaac in the Joe DeCerbo Memorial Holiday Showcase at Allegany-Limestone Central School on Friday. Times Observer Photo by Tim Frank

Avery Brown scored 9 of his 11 points in the second half when the game was already out of hand.

“We did a good job of switching (on defense),” said Berdine. “We talked to the kids about not just switching to switch, but switching to deny and getting the steal, and they did a good job today all the way across the board, one through five.

“I really thought we needed to speed the game up and make them play at our speed for four quarters,” added Coach Berdine. “We hadn’t played since Thursday (Dec. 21); we were really chomping at the bit to play someone else.”

Chase Sitler finished with 11 points and Hoffman 10 for Warren, which plays Olean at 2:30 p.m. tpday at Allegany-Limestone.

Salamanca later meets Otto-Eldred at 6 p.m. in the showcase to benefit the Cattaraugus County Basketball Officials Scholarship Fund.

“As tough as this was, there are things we can immediately fix,” said coach Bennett. “Warren had more effort. With injuries and sickness, we’re going to have boys playing different roles than they would if they were healthy. Games like this, we can find out a lot about who we are… It could be the best thing that happens to us. We’ll see.”

WARREN (60)

Corbett 0, Sitler 5 0 11, Berdine 9 1 19, Crissey 3 1 8, Nyquist 2 0 5, Thrift 0, Barnes 3 1 7, Zdarko 0, Hoffman 4 0 10, Johnson 0, Wyman 0, Corey 0. Totals 26 3-6 70.

SALAMANCA (35)

Herrick 0, Isaac 0, Gillman 0, Crouse 1 0 2, Avery Brown 3 5 11, Ross 2 0 6, Lucas Brown 5 1 13, Holleran 1 1 3. Totals 12 7-12 35.

3-pointers: Sitler, Crissey, Nyquist, Hoffman 2, Ross 2, Lucas Brown 2.

Warren 19 24 10 7 — 60

Salamanca 4 12 7 12 — 35