GIRARD — The Warren boys basketball team was on the road Tuesday as they traveled to Girard to take on the Yellowjackets.

The Dragons would fall by just one point in a nail-biting finish.

Warren started out hot, scoring 19 points in the first quarter to Girard’s 16.

The Yellowjackets would respond in the second quarter with tough defense paired with 14 offensive points to Warren’s 6 to be up 30-25 heading into the half.

The Dragons would flip the scoring sheet in the third quarter by having 14 of their own to Girard’s 6, led by two 3-pointers from Jacob McMeans. The Dragons narrowly held the lead at 39-36 with the final quarter remaining.

The fourth quarter featured a Girard comeback led by 1,000-point scorer Kenny Godoy, who had 29 total points in the game. But Warren wouldn’t go away that easily. Down a point with about 35 seconds remaining, Logan Crissey stole an errant Yellowjacket pass and was on his way for the bucket. Fortunately for Girard, it did not have any team fouls in the quarter, and the Yellowjackets made the most of them as they were able to foul the Dragons all the way down to 2 seconds.

Looking for a quick shot off the inbound, the Yellowjackets swarmed, and the Dragons had to settle with a contested 3-pointer to try to win the game, but could not find the bottom of the basket. Warren would lose to Girard by a heartbreaking score of 49-48.

“I thought our effort was good and our decision making was better, but there are still some things we need to learn in order to start stacking wins,” Warren head coach Jeff Berdine said. “We have played three games in four days, but I am happy with the energy. It is good to play in close games. Hopefully the last two are preparing us for our region play.”

Crissey led the Dragons in scoring with 16, followed by Lucas Thrift at 12, Jacob McMeans 9 and Tage Wyman 5.

Kenny Godoy poured in 29 points for Girard.

In junior varsity play, Warren took care of business defeating Girard 67-19. Charlie Blum had 17 points, Jaxon Thrift 11 and Bryce Grolemund 10.

Warren is back in action next Tuesday when it travels to Titusville for its first region matchup at 7:15 p.m.

JOE DECERBO MEMORIAL HOLIDAY SHOWCASE

ALLEGANY, N.Y. — The Warren boys basketball team earned a runnerup finish over the weekend at the annual Joe Decerbo Memorial Holiday Showcase in Allegany, New York.

The Dragons faced Salamanca in the first round, defeating the Warriors by a convincing 88-33 margin. Logan Crissey led the Dragon scoring with 17 points. Warren had four other double-digit scorers in Lucas Thrift with 14, Jacob McMeans 12, David Manning 11 and Bradey Chase 11. Warren advanced to the championship game on Sunday against Olean.

The championship was a back-and-forth chess match as the first quarter was tied 16-16, the third quarter had Warren outscoring the Huskies by just one point, and the fourth quarter saw each team scoring 12 points. However, the second quarter was all the difference in the outcome as Olean would earn 13 points to Warren’s 6, ultimately ending in an Olean victory 48-42.

Logan Crissey matched his first round game total with another 17 points. Lucas Thrift added in 12 and Allen Eaton pitched in 5.