Brian Hagberg
WARREN, Pa. – There’s an old proverb that says, “Familiarity breeds contempt.”
In the District 10 5A girls basketball playoffs, “contempt” is spelled “respect” between Warren and Slippery Rock.
When Saturday’s D10 title game tips off between the two teams at 4 p.m. in the “House of Thrills” at Meadville High School, it will mark the third time in four years that they play for the title. It will also be the fifth time in six years that they’ve met in the D10 playoffs.
“It doesn’t surprise me that (Slippery Rock head coach) Amber (Osborn) and I are back at it again,” Warren head coach Lisa LaVan said. “She’s a great coach and runs a great program. And anybody’s lucky to have her as a coach.”
It was no secret the defending D10 5A champion Dragons were going to be a formidable team again this season. Boasting a pair of Division II recruits and 1,000 point scorers in seniors Riley Childress and Emma Ruhlman, Warren was considered by many to be the favorite to repeat as champion.
Warren stormed out of the gates, winning 10 of its first 12 games with the only losses coming against two of the top 10 teams in Florida. Warren finished the regular season with an 18-6 record.
Though the Dragons struggled a bit down the stretch in the regular season, they got “back on track” again in a dominating 47-25 semifinal win over Grove City to punch their ticket back to the title game.
Ruhlman leads the Dragons’ offense with 15.5 points per game, while Childress averages 14.3 points per game. Warren averages 48.0 points per game as a team, while giving up just 32.3 per game.
Slippery Rock had some questions coming into the season after replacing a senior class that included four starters now playing at the collegiate level (three in basketball and one in track).
“I always have high expectations,” Osborn said after last year’s D10 title game. “We’ll see what kind of work they want to put in in the offseason. That’s when you get better, and the season is your test.”
If the season was a test, the Rockets passed with flying colors. Slippery Rock finished with a 14-8 overall regular season record and went 10-2 in Region 5 to claim the region title.
“You cannot take Slippery Rock lightly in any way, shape, or form,” LaVan said. “I mean, obviously they were loaded last year. I’ll be honest, I think they’re loaded this year. So we’re not going to take them lightly.”
The Rockets topped Harbor Creek, 43-26, in the semifinals to set up the title game rematch.
“We’ll do our best,” Osborn said. “I know my girls are up for challenges. We’ll prepare for them just like they’ll prepare for us. I’m just thankful to get there. It’s a privilege to get there. These seniors I have are very special. They’ve worked hard and a lot of them have taken the backseat for a couple of years. I’m really happy for them.”
Bronwyn McCoy is the Rockets’ leading scorer at 9.3 points per game. Fellow seniors Ella McDermott (8.3 ppg), Gianna Bedel (8.1 ppg), and Katie Book (6.7 ppg) round out a balanced offense. As a team, the Rockets average 39.5 points per game, and allow 33.1 per game.
Osborn has been at the helm at Slippery Rock for six years and will be playing for the D10 title for the sixth time. Saturday’s game will be the fifth time in that span that the Rockets and Dragons have met in the playoffs.
Slippery Rock won the first two meetings, in the 2017 quarterfinals and 2018 semifinals, while the Dragons have won the last two, in the 2019 and 2021 championships.
“We know each other very well,” LaVan said. “So we’re gonna come into the game. We’re gonna put in our game plan the next two days and just unleash the beast that we are and hopefully just continue to play hard and do the things that we’re doing and play Warren Lady Dragon basketball.”
