Photo by Mark Evans Warren’s Allen Eaton, middle, is fouled by Fort LeBoeuf’s Bobe Matkovich (32) as he drives to the hoop during Friday’s Region 5 basketball game at Warren Area High School.

The Warren boys basketball team lost a close battle against Fort LeBoeuf on Friday evening at Warren Area High School, as the absence of star guard Logan Crissey was just enough for the Dragons to drop a dramatic 42-39 Region 5 loss to the visiting Bison.

The first half saw the Dragons struggle, with some players having to step up more than what they are used to. Down 20-9 in the second quarter, Warren did manage some rhythm before time expired, trailing by just two points heading into the half.

“Playing without Logan (due to injury) was definitely an adjustment for us,” reported head coach Jeff Berdine. “We were able to come back from an 11-point deficit in the second quarter.”

The third quarter saw the home team outscore the Bison 10-7, led by duo Lucas Thrift and Allen Eaton. With the Dragons holding a one-point lead with only the final quarter to play, the fans were in for a dramatic finish.

Down three points with under two minutes remaining, Warren could not close the gap, and were forced to foul the Bison. Trailing by four points with 26.2 seconds left, Warren’s David Manning drained a 3-pointer to cut the Bison lead down to one point, 39-38. Having to foul again, LeBoeuf made one free throw to extend the lead 40-38. Landon Wood was fouled on his layup attempt with 13.5 seconds left with an opportunity to tie the game. Unable to convert on both free throws, the Dragons had to foul. Fort LeBoeuf’s Mike Cacchione came up clutch and sank both free throws to go up three points. Although Warren had a chance to tie with 6.5 seconds remaining, it could not send the game into overtime.

“I thought the kids stepped up as a group, which is what I asked them to do,” Berdine said. “I knew, at some point in time, things were going to get rough for us, and they would need to pick each other up. We had enough opportunities in the last three minutes to win the game, and things just didn’t go our way.”

Eaton led the Dragons with 13 points and Thrift had 12. Cacchione had 12 points for the Bison and Nate Boerk scored 10.

In the junior varsity game, the Dragons lost 56-39. Charlie Blum led the Warren scoring with 12 points.

The Dragons return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Seneca to take on the Bobcats. This is a 6 p.m. junior varsity start with varsity to follow at 7:15 p.m.