Brayden Sallee, Warren boys roll past New Philly
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VINCENT -- The Warren Warriors continue to show they are among the best Division II basketball teams in the state of Ohio.
Having moved up to No. 6 in the latest poll, Warren proved itself yet again Friday night with a 54-37 victory against a tough New Philadelphia team.
Warren improved to 13-1 overall with the win and 5-1 in the East Central Ohio League. With a pivotal matchup against Eastern Brown, the No. 5 ranked team in Division III, the Warriors hope to keep winning and climbing the ranks.
"We've talked about number six all week, just for fun," said Warren head coach Blane Maddox. "We don't have too big of an ego, but we'd like to break that top five. If we (beat Eastern Saturday) night we've got a chance to break that top five. We know you have to do it on the court."
On the court, Warren took care of business on the defensive end against the Quakers, holding them to 36.7% (18 for 49) from the floor and just 16% (2 for 16) from the 3-point line.
"We did go to the trap again and we did switch screens well," Maddox said of his defense.
"I thought Josh Welch came in and did a great job. He doesn't score a lot for us, but I thought he really solidified our defense for us. I thought the guards talked better the second half and we did a nice job of keeping them out of the paint and making them take tough shots."
Brayden Sallee tallied game-highs of 16 points and nine rebounds. Seth Dennis added 14 points and four assists and played solid defense against New Philadelphia's athletic guards.
"I let my man get behind a few times, but my teammates helped me out there," Dennis said. "I felt, overall, every time we got beat we played pretty good help side defense and got back out on the shooters when they kicked it out. Overall, I thought we played pretty good defense."
Kurt Taylor added 11 points, seven boards and four assists while Joel Chevalier chipped in eight points and four dimes for Warren, which led 12-9 after a quarter and 21-16 at halftime.
New Philadelphia took a brief lead in the third period on back-to-back buckets by Kayden Schoelles, who led the team with nine points, to make it 26-24. Dennis answered with a three-point play and then a transition layup to put Warren back in front.
From there, Warren put the game away with tenacious defense, converting turnovers into easy baskets as it watched its lead grow from five at the start of the fourth to 17 at the final buzzer.
"We were a little more physical," Dennis said. "I think in games like this that are more physical, we shine a lot better."
While the win may help Warren earn a better state ranking, it was also important in the ECOL standings. Warren is a game back of first place with conference games against Cambridge and league-leading Dover remaining. They're in position to share the ECOL title with Dover, which is responsible for Warren's only loss, if they can win those two games.
"That's our goal is to try to get that banner our first in the league," Maddox said.
That, and plenty more success is all in front of the Warriors if they can continue to play at a high level. They're happy with the recognition, but not satisfied.
"It means a lot to us and we take it to heart,' Dennis said of being ranked in the state. "Every day in practice, we say out the number we are and it just motivates us. We go harder and harder every time. We're just trying to get up there as high as we can. We're going to try to prove something this year."
Jordan Holland can be reached at jholland@mariettatimes.com.