Warren players and students celebrate after the Dragons won their second straight District 10 Class 5A girls' basketball title on Saturday, March 5, 2022, at Meadville High School. Photo by Brian Hagberg.

Back to Back

March 6, 2022

MEADVILLE, Pa. – No heart-stopping finish this year.

After battling Slippery Rock to the final buzzer, literally, a year ago, Warren led for all but a minute in a dominating 46-34 victory over the Rockets as the Dragons claimed their second straight District 10 Class 5A championship Saturday.

“It’s not as exciting as last year,” Warren’s Riley Childress said. “But it’s still awesome.”

“It’s really come full circle,” Emma Ruhlman said. “We won our first one here (in Meadville) when we were little freshies and now we led our team and won it again.”

Full interview with Warren’s seniors:

Not just the second straight title for the Dragons, but the third in four years and fourth overall for the program.

“It’s pretty nice, not gonna lie, it feels really good,” Warren coach Lisa LaVan said. “The girls came and executed a great game plan. It was really fun. It was pretty amazing to watch.”

See LaVan’s full postgame interview:

It took 40 seconds for Warren to take a 2-0 lead, then Slippery Rock’s Gianna Bedel hit a three to give the Rockets a 3-2 advantage. Twenty-six seconds later, Childress gave the Dragons a 4-3 lead.

Warren wouldn’t relinquish it for the rest of the game.

Childress followed by knocking down the first of her two first-half 3-pointers, then Sammie Ruhlman hit from distance to put the Dragons up 11-4. Katie Book answered with a three of her own to keep the Rockets in striking distance as Warren led 13-9 at the end of the first quarter.

“I think that calmed their nerves a little bit and got our offense going,” LaVan said. “People obviously are going to key in on Emma and Riley but we showed tonight that we’re a total package, everybody stepped up, all six kids that got in and really stepped it up for our team.”

Warren’s Riley Childress dribbles past Slippery Rock’s Bronwyn McCoy during the 2022 District 10 Class 5A championship game on Saturday, March 5, 2022, at Meadville High School. The Dragons defeated the Rockets, 46-34, to claim their second straight title. Photo by Mark Evans.

The Dragons limited the Rockets to just three field goals in the second quarter while scoring 14 points themselves to take a 27-15 lead into the locker room.

Slippery Rock was able to trim the lead to eight at one point in the third quarter, but Warren responded to push the advantage back to double-digits.

The second half saw a complete 180 in the Warren offensive game plan. The Dragons tried to push the tempo and create transition points through most of the first half, in the second half, it was all about running the half-court offense.

“We were going to transition all game, but then we (got the lead) and just pulled it out and ran the clock,” Childress said.

More succinctly, the Dragons put on a ball-handling clinic. Warren maintained possession for nearly all of the final two minutes of the third quarter and still held a 12-point edge, 35-23, going into the fourth.

Warren’s Emma Ruhlman puts up a shot during the 2022 District 10 Class 5A championship game against Slippery Rock on Saturday, March 5, 2022, at Meadville High School. Photo by Mark Evans.

On nearly every fourth-quarter possession, Warren ran 30-35 seconds off the clock before a change of possession (score, foul, or turnover). The strategy allowed the Dragons to maintain the lead without giving extra opportunities to the Rockets to go on a late run.

“We did a great job of just taking care of the ball and taking care of the tempo,” LaVan said. “I’m sure there’s a lot of tweets out there that PA needs a shot clock after what we just did, but that’s alright, do what you gotta do.”

Julia Coffaro hit a late 3-pointer to keep the final margin at 12 points.

Bronwyn McCoy led the Rockets with 11 points. Ella McDermott added nine.

Childress had a game-high 15 points. Alana Stuart had 10 points, and Emma Ruhlman finished with a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Warren will face Oakland Catholic in the first round of the PIAA State tournament on Wednesday at a site and time to be announced. Slippery Rock will have a first round matchup against Moon.

         

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Subscribe to our newsletter

   

White Cane Coffee presents Coffee & a Conversation

Don't Miss