Under head coach DJ Steinberg, the Lady Knights look to continue their strong season led by seniors Clara Steinberg, Lainey Font, Riley Robinault, Laney Belcher, and Sam Childs. The Lady Knights open the District 10 3A playoffs as the number four seed, and will take on the Greenville Trojans. The game will be played Saturday, February 21st at a time and location to be determined.

“We will watch film on our opponent and work on formulating a game plan,” Eisenhower head coach DJ Steinberg said. “We have developed a tradition of a team dinner after our last scrimmage, always at Olive Garden. Depending on our game time on Saturday, we also have a tradition of eating breakfast at New Beginnings the Saturday morning of playoffs. Then we will have a team shoot around then head off to the playoff game. I also have to mention how proud I am of our seniors. Four years and four playoff appearances.”

The Warren High girls basketball team has a shot at the 6A District 10 championship right out of the gates as they take on McDowell. Looking to get revenge from two regular season losses to the Trojans, head coach Jenny Phillips will try to lead her team to victory in the most important game of the season. The Lady Dragons play this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Hagerty Events Center in Erie, PA.

“The game on Wednesday will certainly be a battle,” Warren head coach Jenny Phillips commented. “McDowell is a good team and has lots of talent. We need to focus on containing their scorers, especially behind the arc. On offense, we need to be patient, allowing us to make the best shot and keep our turnovers to a minimum.”

Clara Steinberg and the Lady Knights begin their playoff run on Saturday as the 4-seed in the 3A District 10 tournament against Greenville. Times Observer File Photo

The Eisenhower Knights boys team seems to be playing like how a fine wine ages — the more experience they get, the better they play. Ryan Mangini has taken the Knights basketball team and made it into something special in just five years of being the head coach. As Region 3 champions, they have earned the No. 1 seed in the District 10 3A bracket. They will face a tough Iroquois Braves squad, whom they did beat earlier in the year, but will be a very formidable opponent.

“Winning the region was one of the first goals our captains came up with this year,” stated Coach Mangini. “It means a lot, especially because Eisenhower hasn’t been the sole winner since 2003.” The 2003 Eisenhower Knights squad was nothing short of incredible as they boasted three 1,000-point scorers that season in Jacoby Curtis, Swede Backhus, and Ryan Irwin, and also had a deep lineup that included Adam Hoisington and Wes Schwanke.

Mangini added, “Iroquois will be a tough team to beat. Their record is very deceiving due to early injuries and a very tough schedule that has them playoff ready. We have to come prepared and play a complete game.”

The Knights play Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Hagerty Events Center in Erie, PA.

The Warren High boys basketball team opens up the 4A District 10 tournament against Grove City. They will face the Eagles on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Meadville High School. Coming in as the 11-seed, the Dragons need to win two games to qualify for the PIAA State tournament, as they are taking five teams to represent the district. If the Dragons prevail, they will face the Fairview Tigers, the number three seed in the tournament.

Austin Hanson and the Eisenhower boys basketball team earned the top seed in the 3A District 10 bracket and will play Iroquois on Thursday at the Hagerty Events Center in Erie at 6 p.m. Times Observer File Photo by Steve Younger

“The matchup with Grove City wasn’t a huge surprise to us as we felt we would probably get the loser of Friday nights, Hickory and Grove City game,” reported head coach Jeff Berdine. “I am a fan of playing the playoff games at high schools so being at Meadville HS is an OK venue as far as I’m concerned. Grove City is very good defensively, disciplined and well coached. Nick Earman and Ben Fischer are talented players for them so we will need to control those two. We will need to clean up some of our recent defensive issues and knock down some outside shots early to keep pace with them. Offensively, our shot selection and patience in what I feel could be a very defensive-minded game needs to be at a premium. The 4A bracket is loaded at the top with a bunch of even teams sitting in seeds 4-13.”