Warren graduated six seniors — including four with a mountain of experience — off a roster finishing 20-6 and ultimately defeating Hickory for the D10 4A championship.

It took all four senior starters — and then some — to climb that mountain as Dragons had been eliminated in the playoffs by Hickory the previous three seasons.

It could have been a nice-and-tidy ending for Coach Berdine, who won his first D10 title in a season in which he surpassed 300 career wins. It was also the last of seven straight seasons he would coach one or both of his sons, and the last season for four-year starting point guard Tommy Nyquist.

“I think one of the things that brought me back is I really like where we’re at as a program with our player development in terms of the younger group as well as the seniors,” said Berdine. “The four guys we lose from last year’s main rotation — Tommy, Brady (Berdine), Braylon (Barnes) and Konnor (Hoffman) — did an awesome job bringing the team together, putting their own agendas and goals on hold and being leaders for the betterment of the team and program. This year’s group will really need to understand that in order to win. They have to learn to play as a group and embrace the main goal, which is walking out with a ‘W’ on game night.

Warren senior Chase Sitler shoots a floater on Monday against Fredonia in a tri-scrimmage with Eisenhower at Warren Area High School. Times Observer photo by Mark Evans

“(Senior) Chase (Sitler) and (junior) Logan (Crissey) return with lots of experience from last year’s playoff run,” said Coach Berdine. “They will be our go-to players this year as the other players fill their roles and we develop a rotation. These two will need to step up their scoring, which they both are capable of doing, and become leaders, be better defensive players, and as always in our program, be willing passers.

“This year is a little different for us because we have a very solid junior class and also welcome in three transfers from the Sheffield program,” added Berdine. “Leihden Wotorson puts us in a great spot at the point after four years of having D10’s best point guard. Other players looking to carve out roles include seniors Grady Corey and David Huffman as well as underclassmen Colin Zdarko, Jacob McMeans, Lucas Thrift, Tage Wyman, Landon Wood, and then additional transfers Allen Eaton and Austin Fiscus.

“After Chase, Logan and Leihden, the minutes are really up for grabs at this point in time, so the kids will need to compete every day in practice, which they’ve done since we started practicing,” said Berdine. “This year, there are a lot of opportunities to mix and match based on game script and matchups, so as a team it can allow us to get more players on the floor, largely depending on their play.”

In his 24th season as head coach, a lot has changed for Berdine, but what remains the same, “we always talk about three keys: energy, effort and focus,” he said. “Our goal is always to be able to get into the playoffs, and be competitive and in all the games we play. This year, I think the squad has a very good opportunity to win a region championship. … I think we will be one of the stronger teams in the region, but as always with region play, winning your home games will be an important factor in controlling your own destiny when it comes to playoff seeding. Our team defense and shot selection will definitely need to get better than where we showed during the summer and so far in practice.”

Warren’s varsity/junior varsity roster includes: seniors Corey, Huffman, Sitler and Wotorson; juniors, Crissey, Eaton, Fiscus, McMeans, Thrift, Wyman and Zdarko; sophomores, Charlie Blum, Bradey Chase, Holden Demers, Max Spiegel, Presley Weldon and Wood; and freshmen, Ayden Corbett, Bryce Grolemund, Kahle Kuzminski, Grant Newton, Leyton Salvatore and Jaxon Thrift.

Jeff Eaton and Dave Papalia return as assistant coaches. Junior high (Beaty) coaches include Steve Onuffer and Joe McGraw.

Tuesday, Dec. 3: at Mercyhurst Prep

Thursday, Dec. 5-Friday, Dec. 6: at Brookville Tip-Off Tournament

Monday, Dec. 9: at Bradford

Friday, Dec. 13: Girard

Tuesday, Dec. 17: Fort LeBoeuf*

Friday, Dec. 20: at Seneca*

Saturday, Jan. 4: at DuBois

Tuesday, Jan. 7: Titusville*

Friday, Jan. 10: at Franklin*

Tuesday, Jan. 14: Oil City*

Friday, Jan. 17: at Conneaut*

Tuesday, Jan. 21: at Corry*

Friday, Jan. 24: at Fort LeBoeuf*

Tuesday, Jan. 28: Seneca*

Friday, Jan. 31: at Titusville*

Tuesday, Feb. 4: Franklin*

Friday, Feb. 7: at Oil City*

Tuesday, Feb. 11: Conneaut*

Friday, Feb. 14: Corry*

*Region 5 game