Warren's boys' basketball program is currently undergoing a deja vu experience.
Briefly, deja vu is a French expression meaning literally "already seen."
And, what Warrior cage fans are seeing so far this season is something identical to last year: a 7-0 start.
In a sense, it's almost eerie.
On Tuesday night, Warren notched win No. 7 when it routed host Logan, 70-47, in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game. Last winter, the seventh royal blue and white victory wasn't posted until Jan. 4, a 64-43 triumph over Jackson.
"We're off to a good start again," said Warren head coach Blane Maddox, now in his 13th season at the helm. "But we've got a long ways to go.
"We play a tough schedule. I mean, no game on it is an easy one."
What makes Warren's start even more impressive this season is that the Warriors are doing it with essentially different personnel, at least as far as starters go.
Last winter, Warren was winning with guys like Austin Cunningham, Grant Venham, Dylan Leffingwell and Justin Hilverding. Cunningham is currently playing hoops for Ohio Valley Univesity, while Venham is punting at Ohio University.
Hilverding also graduated, and Leffingwell decided to focus more on Warrior football next fall.
Now, getting the job done on the hardwood are starters like Tyler Ward, Josh Windland, Evan French, Jace Knost, and Jeremy Hastie, the only returning starter from the 2010-11 team.
Also contributing for the Warriors have been Evan Yabs, Adam Lang, Matt Drayer, Danny Pannell, Austin Henthorn and Reece Patton.
"These guys are down to earth, and like each other," Maddox said. "They play hard, pick each other up, and share the basketball - and have done enough for us to win so far."
Last year, opponents focused primarily on Cunningham and Venham.
This season, Windland, Hastie and French have been the leading scorer in two games apiece, while Knost was the top point-getter in one. Overall, the scoring has been balanced.
Maddox said he has "no complaints."
"It's been very solid so far," the Warren boss continued.
Last week was "exam week" as Warren was tested on consecutive nights by two pretty good ballclubs in Portsmouth and Waverly, respectively. In both games, the Warriors had to stage rallies, beating the Trojans 61-56 on Friday night at Vincent, and then doing the same 53-45 over the Tigers the following evening at the Ohio University Convocation Center.
"We found a way to win, and were very fortunate (last week)," said Maddox, modestly.
After the victory at Logan, Warren isn't scheduled to play its next game for 10 days, at Fort Frye in Beverly on Dec. 30. That figures to be another tough one for the Warriors.
"The nice thing about this team is they don't look past the next game," Maddox said.
"I'd prefer of course that we keep playing games instead of having the (10-day) layoff. I mean, it's almost like an extended timeout.
"But we have to stay at it and keep positive. During that time, we'll refocus on conditioning and work on our offense to where we execute better."
Deja vu all over again?
On the Warren hardwood, it appears to be.
