The Eagles got hot fast as they were leading the Dragons 5-0 early on. A couple steals and nice transition baskets that included the first of two Logan Crissey dunks allowed Warren to go on a 9-2 run to end the first quarter up 9-7. The second quarter saw the Dragons slowly increase their lead despite hard, tough defense by the opposition. The Eagles were up in the face of guard Logan Crissey all night long, but he was able to find space and create plays for his teammates who converted when they needed to. Warren would go up 23-17 at the half.

“Logan handled the ball very well tonight,” Warren head coach Jeff Berdin commented. “We told him early on to keep attacking the basket, which is what he excels at.”

Warren would miss some early chances to begin the third quarter and the Eagles would strike first to get within four points. Crissey would score the next three buckets for the Dragons that included his second two-hand slam of the night, and a beautiful pass from sophomore Jaxon Thrift for the score. Crissey would score 11 points in the third quarter to allow Warren a 9-point lead with just one quarter remaining.

The Dragons and Eagles played each other very hard on the defensive side the entire game, and the fourth quarter was no different. With baskets coming at a premium down the stretch, Warren rattled off 19 points in the final quarter en route to the victory.

Photo by Mark Evans Warren’s Allen Eaton drives to the basket between Grove City defenders Kyle Osborn, left, and Max Knouse.

“I am very happy with the win,” reported head coach Jeff Berdine. “With Tage (Wyman) and Bradey (Chase) out, we had a lot of kids step up tonight — David Manning, Landon Wood, Colin Zdarko, and Jaxon Thrift. Grove City is normally one of the better defensive teams you’ll play. They are very good fundamentally and are coached very well. We have been struggling offensively lately, but we did a good job handling the ball.”

With the win, the Dragons will face the Fairview Tigers Friday evening at a time and place yet to be determined.

“Fairview is another team that is very good defensively,” Berdine added. “Their coach does a tremendous job with the kids. They are well-coached and disciplined, and it will take another good effort for us.”

Logan Crissey led all scorers with 23 points on the night followed by Lucas Thriftt with 10. Jacob McMeans added 8 points, and Allen Eaton had 6.

Ben Fischer led the Eagles with 19 points.

WARREN (55)

LThrift 3 2 10, Crissey 10 3 23, McMeans 3 0 8, Eaton 3 0 6, JThrift 1 2 4, Zdarko 1 0 2, Manning 1 0 2, Wood 0 0 0. Totals 22 7 55.

GROVE CITY (43)

Knouse 2 0 6, Gothe 0 0 0, Timko 0 0 0, Mariacher 2 0 5, Hathaway 0 0 0, Earman 2 0 6, Osborn 1 2 4, Fischer 6 7 19, Gamble 1 0 3. Totals 14 9 43.

3-point goals–LThrift 2, McMeans 2, Knouse 2, Mariacher, Earman, Gamble.

Warren 9 14 13 19 — 55

Grove City 7 10 10 16 — 43