Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – Fairview flexed its muscles on Friday against Warren.
(Warren’s Tommy Nyquist takes a shot. Photo by SE Reagle.)
The Tigers, who won the first meeting, 54-31, led the second time around from start to finish in a 62-31 victory.
James Sitter led the way for Fairview with 20 points, while Logan Frazao had 18.
That being said, Warren coach Jeff Berdine was pleased with the fight of his team.
“I challenged my kids because, in the second half of the Harbor Creek game, I was very disappointed with how we finished that game,” Berdine said. “I told them we needed to build on something and get better in the second half of this game and get something out of it and we did.”
Parks Ordiway played a strong first half for the Dragons, scoring all nine of his points in the first 16 minutes.
It was the Tigers (7-2 overall, 5-1 Region 5) that took a 38-14 lead into the locker room thanks to the hot-shooting of Frazao, who scored nine points in the second quarter, and Tyler Shultz, who scored eight in the first quarter.
Sitter also scored 13 of his points in the first half.
The Tigers outscored the Dragons (6-4, 3-4) 24-17 in the second half, with the Dragons playing better on both ends of the floor.
“I told them let’s work on getting better and get ready for DuBois,” Berdine said. “I challenged them and I was proud of them. “I told them there’s a difference between being a fearful Dragon and a fearless Dragon. You can’t play that way…you have to be fearless. This is your opportunity to compete. Go out and let it rip. When you commit to playing that way, we’ll be a better team.”
Ben Berdine scored all eight of his points in the second half, while JT Blum, who had two blocks and three steals, had seven of his 10 points in the third quarter.
The Dragons are right back at it Saturday, playing their fourth game of the week against DuBois (6 p.m. JV/7:30 varsity).
“There’s no reason we can’t run the table and not lose another game,” Berdine said, with the two games against Fairview and Harbor Creek accounting for all four of their losses. “Everyone in our region and everyone in the non-region is beatable the rest of the way.”
Tommy Nyquist and Bryce Blair had two points each for the Dragons.
Shultz added 13 points for Fairview.
