San Antonio, TX-

Only one loss separated the Hawks and Warriors going into Tuesday night's District 29-6A match-up, so nothing less than a tight game was expected. Early on that was the case, but Warren would use a 21-9 advantage in the third quarter to turn the tide and coast the rest of the way for their 11th win overall, and 5th in district.  

As they did at the start of the game, Warren would use a 10-0 run to start the 3rd quarter, punctuated by an “And 1” when Vaughn Martinez would hit a one-handed runner and draw the foul. The free throw was no good, but the bucket gave the Warriors a 47-28 advantage early in the third frame, essentially putting the contest away.

The lead would grow as large as 24 points when junior guard, Xavier Kirk (2022), would draw the foul on a three-point play, and calmly drained the free throw for a 61-37 lead in the 4th quarter. Warren would cruise the rest of the way, and eventually wrap up the 77-61 win over Harlan.

The first half remained fairly competitive, but Warren would come out quickly. Scoring the first ten points of the game, as Zane Elmore (2021) would set up Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (2023) for an easy lay-up, prompting a Harlan timeout after the 10-0 lead.

Xavier Kirk would help pad the lead some more, connecting on three-pointer form the right wing in the 2nd quarter, giving the Warriors a 26-14 edge, but Harlan would respond with a 10-2 spurt of their own to counter.

Jaylen Streeter (2021) would sink two free-throws making it a 28-24 deficit for the Hawks, and that’s as close as they would get the remainder of the evening. Warren wouldn’t waste any more time and responded with buckets, and surged into the halftime break, giving them the 37-28 advantage.

On the night, four Warren players logged double figures, led by Kirk who had a game high 24 points. The Hawks had no defense for his quickness getting into the paint and he consistently found the shot he wanted. Speaking of the paint, 6’7” Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, owned it. His length, athleticism, and size gave Harlan problems all night. Offensively, he finished with a modest 11 points, but it was his 19 rebounds and 3 blocked shots that put a lid on anyone trying to come into the middle. Point guard Zane Elmore went for 15 and Zak Hammoudeh (2021) also pitched in 15 points in the win. Warren is now 11-5 overall, and 5-1 in district play.

In the loss for Harlan, Streeter would have 18 points for the Hawks. They fall to 8-6 overall and 4-3 in district.