Warren’s Trent Taylor, left, celebrates with head coach Blane Maddox after setting the program’s single-game scoring record with 46 points in Tuesday’s game against Fort Frye at Warrior Coliseum. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

VINCENT — It will be a game that Warren senior Trent Taylor will remember for a very long time.

Not only did the Warriors clinch a share of the Twin State League Championship for the second consecutive season with a 73-35 rout of Fort Frye, Taylor led the way by breaking the all-time Warriors single game scoring record by tossing in 46 points.

Taylor went an incredible 20-of-25 from the floor and broke the all-time record in style with a break-away, two-handed dunk in the final quarter.

The previous record was 44 set by Warrior great Evan French, who led Warren to the final four back in 2013.

“I was feeling it tonight and I felt like I was going to have a good game but obviously I didn’t expect to break the school record,” said Taylor. “To break a record that such a great player like Evan French had is incredible.”

Fort Frye’s Braden Morgenstern, left, handles the ball as Warren’s Trent Taylor defends during Tuesday’s game at Warrior Coliseum. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

Taylor got off to a decent start by scoring seven points in the opening quarter as the Warriors struggled out of the gate and he actually picked up his second foul in the second quarter and spent a good amount of time on the bench.

The pesky Cadets managed to not only hang with the Warriors through the first quarter and a half but actually pulled ahead early in the second on back-to-back triples by Chatum Courson and Tavin Brooks.

Warrior head coach Blane Maddox elected to chance it and bring Taylor back into the game and that would prove to be the right decision.

A triple by Warrior junior Jacob Sealey put them back in the lead and at that point Taylor’s night began to turn into something special.

The 6-foot-7 Taylor scored the final 13 points of the half as the Warriors pulled out to a 30-15 lead at the break.

Taylor made all but one of his field goal attempts in the pivotal second quarter and received plenty of help from his teammates as Julian Stadelman, Sealey and Colin Anthony all registered assists to the big man.

“I think my teammates may have honestly wanted it for me even more than I wanted it for myself,” said Taylor. “They really gave me the opportunities to score and I’m really thankful to them.”

Warren continued to stretch its lead in the third quarter as Taylor scored 14 more points to leave him just 10 shy of French’s record heading to the final quarter.

Maddox felt like Taylor deserved a shot at the record after the incredible amount of time he had put in to build himself into one of the top players in the district.

“I’m happy for Trent and he’s been such a big part of our program for four years,” said Maddox. “He earned it and he’s put in so much time and work and made a great memory and that’s what this game is all about.”

Early in the fourth quarter it looked like Taylor may have run out of gas as he made just one free throw in the first three minutes but that all changed a bit later.

Fort Frye sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers by Braden Morganstern and Zach Huffman around a Taylor field goal to keep the game under 30 and delay a running clock.

Taylor seemed to find his second wind as he scored nine consecutive points, the final one coming when he laid down a thunderous two-handed dunk on a break away steal to bring the Warrior faithful to their feet.

“When the third quarter ended ‘Coach’ (Jerry) Mitchem held up two fingers and said 11 more and I knew then they were going to give me a shot at it,” said Taylor. “I missed a couple of 3s towards the end and I was getting a little antsy but once I settled down I was able to get the ball down under the basket and that was working all game.”

Maddox would pull Taylor from the game at that point as he was congratulated by his teammates and coaches.

In addition to the 46 points Taylor also pulled down 11 rebounds, dished out three assists and came up with four steals on defense.

Stadelman was the only other Warrior to reach double figures as he finished with 13.

Almost lost in Taylor’s heroics was the fact that for the second straight year the Warriors shared the Twin State League Title with Marietta as both schools went 5-1 and split with one another.

“Coach Maddox sat us down about a week ago and told us to look at the banners and that they were memories that we will always remember,” said Taylor. “We would really like to have it all to ourselves but we were able to beat Marietta Friday and then get it done tonight.”

Warren improved to 14-3 overall and now with league play completed will look to turn its attention to tournament time which is just a few weeks away.

“We’re very happy to walk off of the floor again with a share of that crown,” said Maddox. “We could have easily laid down but I really like this team and I think they are championship quality.”

The loss ended a tough stretch for the Cadets whose record slipped to 9-8 overall and 1-5 in league play.

Huffman led the way for the Fort with 12 points.

Fort Frye head coach Eric Henniger felt his team gave a valiant effort early on but kind of got out of sorts and let the Warriors take control of the game

“We played pretty well early on but I thought we kind of panicked when they got out to a lead and let things get away from us,” said Henniger. “If we could have played like we did the first quarter and a half maybe we hang in there but you’ve got to play all four quarters.”

Warren will get a well deserved break before returning to action Tuesday as they host Belpre on Senior Night at The Coliseum.

The Cadets will host Shenandoah Friday night and will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of their Final Four team of 1999 that Henniger himself played on.

“It’s a big night and we’ve got almost everyone from that team coming back,” said Henniger, who also noted that there would be an official ceremony to name the court after Coach Dan Liedtke. “He’s a guy that’s got over 700 wins here and is a legend and we want to celebrate that as well.”

Marietta 53, Point Pleasant 31

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Marietta bounced back from just its second loss of the season with a 53-31 win over Point Pleasant Tuesday.

MHS improved to 15-2 overall and completed its Twin State League schedule with a 5-1 record. With Warren’s 73-35 win over Fort Frye, the Warriors and Tigers finished as co-champions of the TSL for the second straight year.

Alex Kendall led Marietta with 27 points, including five 3-pointers. Elyjah Lieras-Kelly added seven points while Brayden Jones chipped in six on two treys.

Marietta, which plays host to Meigs Friday, led 11-7 after the first before outscoring the Big Blacks 17-4 in the second to take a 28-11 halftime lead. The Tigers stretched the lead to 44-18 going into the fourth before emptying their bench.

Point Pleasant, which heads to Nitro Friday, got 10 points from Grant Barton and six apiece from Grayson Tucker and Josh Chapman.