NORTH EAST — The Warren girls basketball team earned a nail-biting 47-46 victory over North East on Tuesday in a varsity-only road trip.

The Dragons got off to a relatively slow start in the first quarter, down 8-11. An even 13-13 second quarter put the Dragons down just three points heading into the half.

The third quarter was all Emma Roell and Peyton Wotorson as they combined for 12 of the 16 Warren points, but were still down one point with eight minutes remaining. The fourth quarter was back and forth.

“As soon as one team would get ahead, the other would counter,” reported Dragons head coach Jenny Phillips. “The last minute we were up by 1, and it was all about our defense and shutting them down. The girls hunkered down and played smart.”

Warren would outscore North East 10-8 in the fourth, with senior Tori Solberg chipping in 4points en route to the win.

Phillips added, “This was a total team effort on the win. Everyone who got in the game contributed on both ends of the floor. The score might not reflect it, but we played our best half-court defense against them tonight. They have two post players that are a couple inches taller than our entire team, so shutting them down was the priority.”

Roell and Wotorson led the scoring with 9 points each. Ava Wymer had a nice performance with 8 points, Peyton Hagg and Joanna Bennett each hada 6, and Molly Richards chipped in 5 and Tori Solberg contributed 4.

“This is a huge confidence win for the team,” said Phillips. “The message recently has been all about teamwork and we win and lose as a team, whether you are on the floor or encouraging your teammates from the bench, and everyone showed up tonight .I can honestly say we played so well as a team and everyone who had minutes contributed in their own way. Our defense was definitely the main factor and being able to limit their posts were main factors. I’m so proud of these girls and cannot wait to see what the rest of the season brings.”

The Dragons look to keep the momentum going today when they host Northwestern at Warren Area High School. Junior varsity tips off at 6 p.m. with varsity to follow at 7:15 p.m.