Photo by Mark Evans Warren’s Peyton Wotorson puts up a shot in front of a General McLane defender during Thursday’s game.

The Warren girls basketball team hosted General McLane on Thursday for its home opener and was defeated 41-34 by the Lancers.

The Lancers went on an early first-quarter 10-0 run before Lily Richards made Warren’s first bucket of the night. The Dragons would get points from freshmen pair Molly Richards and Joanna Bennett, ending the first quarter down 12-6.

A back-and-forth second quarter mixed with a Tori Solberg last-second bucket left the Lancers up 19-12 heading into the half.

Early General McLane third-quarter foul trouble allowed Warren’s Peyton Wotorson to capitalize on a pair of free throws, but the Lancers would respond with an old-school three-point play to take a 28-18 lead. Emma Roell would convert a nice shot, and Wotorson would go on to steal the ball and make the basket to cut the deficit to six. The third quarter ended on a Wotorson 3-point buzzer bank shot, cutting the McLane lead to just five points.

The Lancers were strong on the offensive boards all night, and did not slow down in the final quarter.

“All five players need to box out and go after it. Our posts work their butts off underneath and we just need to be better and more disciplined with rebounding on both ends,” said Warren head coach Jenny Phillips.

McLane would hold off the Dragons for the seven-point road victory.

“Our defense was OK,” Phillips said. “We definitely had our moments here and there. On offense, though we started slow in the beginning, improved in the second half, but we just ran out of time. I thought our JV players that came in — Molly Richards, Ava Wymer, Abby Roell and Joanna Bennett gave us really good minutes and played their roles well. I can’t wait to see how much they grow over the season.”

Wotorson led the Dragons in scoring with 12 points and Roell had 8.

Sam Dore poured in 16 points for the Lancers.

“Our team chemistry is definitely at the top of the list (of things to improve on),” Phillips said. “When we are patient on offense we look better, but we have to be better decision makers, and it starts with trusting the chemistry on the floor.”

The Dragons return to the court Monday when they travel to Fort LeBoeuf for a 7:15 p.m. varsity start.