This contest was purely a seeding contest, as both teams had already punched their PIAA state playoff ticket earlier this week. A slow start for the Dragons, paired with a stout defensive effort enabled the Hornets to post the victory.

Warren struggled offensively in the first quarter as only two buckets were made — one each by Logan Crissey and Lucas Thrift. The Hornets managed to take a double-digit lead heading into the half at 29-18.

“We had a slow start offensively,” said Dragons head coach Jeff Berdine. “To do that versus a good team like Hickory does not normally go well, and that was the case tonight.”

With Hickory leading by 18 points with just the final quarter to go, Warren stayed resilient and played until the clock ran out. Thrift had a strong final eight minutes as he put up 11 points, but that was not enough for the comeback.

Photo by Mark Evans Colin Zdarko

The Hornets played a tough zone on the defensive side, and they were able to hold Logan Crissey to just 7 points.

“I think they did a good job versus Logan, and their bigs also rotated well to contest his drives,” added Berdine. “We didn’t shoot the ball well enough against the zone, and we had some costly turnovers in the fourth quarter that curbed our run. I thought Hickory did a good job really limiting us to one shot tonight. They controlled the glass for the most part.”

Thrift led all scorers with 21 points, Allen Eaton had 8 points and Crissey had 7. The Hornets had three players in double digits with Kyler Slevin leading the way with 16.

Warren will face the winner of the District 8 (Obama Academy of International Studies) and District 9 (Clearfield) subregional matchup. The game will be played next Friday at a time and place to be determined.

Photo by Mark Evans Lucas Thrift

Photo by Mark Evans Logan Crissey