Photo by Jordan Holland Warren’s Trent Taylor (2) goes up for a shot during a high school boys basketball game against Dover Friday in Vincent. Dover won, 55-47.

VINCENT — The Warren boys basketball team’s first game in its new gym didn’t get off to a great start Friday.

The Warriors (0-2) couldn’t get their offense going early and fell behind 20-11 at halftime. Warren finally got some shots to fall in the second half, but ultimately fell 55-47 to visiting Dover.

“We went zone and it helped us (defensively) a little bit, but it hurt our offense because it slowed us down,” explained Warren head coach Blaine Maddox.

T.C. Molk led the Tornadoes (1-0) with a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds. Ayden Hall added 10 points and six boards for Dover, which went 20 for 43 (46.5%) from the floor.

“(Molk) gets going and he’s hard to stop,” Maddox said. “We’re trying, but they set nice double screens. Good ball player, good young man. Keeps his composure.”

Warren, which looks to bounce back Tuesday at Belpre, got 17 points and seven rebounds from Brayden Sallee. Sophomore big man Trent Taylor chipped in 12 points, seven boards, six blocks and three steals for the Warriors. Warren was just 4 for 23 (17.4%) from the floor in the first half, but bounced back to shoot 50% (12 for 24) over the final two quarters.

“It was my fault we couldn’t get loose on offense in the first half,” Maddox said. “We opened up the court, took a chance defensively, got our offense going and attacked well in the second half. I was proud of the way we came back. That’s two games now. I think we’re figuring out what we’ve got to do and I think we’ll be better from here on out. That’s a good team and we battled. Nothing to be ashamed of. We battled hard.”

Sallee’s putback in the first quarter got Warren within two at 9-7, but Dover’s Joey Farthing and Daniel Pfeiffer hit back-to-back buckets to make it 13-7 after one.

Dennis Pettey opened the second period with three straight points to cut it to 13-10, but Warren scored just one more point the remainder of the quarter on a Trent Dowler free throw. Dover closed the half on a 7-1 run to take a 20-11 lead into halftime.

Molk opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but Colten Eddy answered with three straight points for the Warriors. The Tornadoes then went on a 12-2 run to stretch their lead to 19, 35-16, midway through the third. Sallee scored Warren’s next nine points, but the hosts still trailed 43-25 going into the final period.

Warren pushed the tempo over the last eight minutes and outscored Dover 22-12 in the stanza, getting seven points from Taylor and six from Sallee in the quarter.

Neither team shot well from the foul line in the contest — Warren was 10 for 20 while Dover went 11 for 23.

The Warriors are the reigning Southeast District champions, but graduated several key players from last year’s team. This year’s squad is still trying to find its identity.

“There’s frustration. We like to win,” Maddox said. “We’re going to have to battle every game to win. All games are going to be a battle for us. Enjoy the journey of getting better each game.”

Warren is looking forward to playing more games on its new floor.

“Isn’t this a beautiful place?,” Maddox said. “It’s wonderful. This community did great for us. All we promise is we will play as hard as we can and try to make you proud.”