If there were such a thing as mid-term basketball grades, the Warren boys' basketball team would receive an "A" - no question about it.
The Blane Maddox-coached Warrior cagers are currently ranked No. 5 in Ohio Division II with a 10-1 overall record. The royal blue and white's only setback was at Chillicothe on Jan. 6.
Since the loss to Chilli, Warren, which started the season with an eight-game winning streak, has beaten Jackson 61-51 and arch-rival Marietta 44-39. Josh Windland led the way vs. MHS with 15 points.
Now, the Warriors are scheduled to make a road trip to Gallipolis, where they'll take on the Gallia Academy Blue Devils in a Southeastern Ohio Athletic League game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
In the first meeting between the two SEOAL schools at Vincent on Dec. 13, 2011, Warren won easily 80-33.
"That was probably the best overall game we've played this season," Maddox said. "Gallia is struggling, but like I've told people, we play a tough schedule, and there isn't a team in the SEOAL that can't beat us. There also isn't a team in the SEOAL that we can't beat."
Against Gallia, Evan French paced Warren with a game-high 17 points. Reece Patton chipped in with 14, Jeremy Hastie had 13, and Windland netted eight.
Jace Knost grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for the winners.
GA was led by Nick Saunders, who tallied 10 markers. No other Blue Devil scored in double digits.
Playing almost mistake-free basketball, Warren only had seven turnovers in the contest.
After playing Gallia Academy, Warren is slated to return home for two non-conference games against Fort Frye Saturday and Belpre Tuesday. The Warriors beat the Cadets 54-50 in Beverly on Dec. 30, 2011, and routed Belpre 81-55 at the Eagles Nest on Dec. 9.
"We know the personnel of these two teams very well," Maddox said.
The Dan Liedtke-coached Cadets (8-3) are paced by Shon Smith, who's averaging almost 20 points per game. He had 18 against the Warriors in December.
Some other Fort players to keep an eye on will be Zach Eddy, Chandler Lang, and Kyle Schwendeman.
Warren had 16 turnovers in that contest, and that's too many. Maddox said he likes to keep TOs under 10.
The Warriors had little trouble with Belpre in the first meeting, but the Jordan Thornhill-coached Golden Eagles (8-3) are a much improved team.
Some of Belpre's key players ar Jake Ullman, Drew Nestor, Dakota Hoffman, and Ryan Leasure.
