Warren’s Jacob Sealey steals the ball as Vinton County’s Jack Davidson reacts during the Warriors’ 58-36 sectional semifinal victory Wednesday night inside the Warrior Coliseum versus Vinton County. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

VINCENT — Warren’s one-two punch of Trent Taylor and Julian Stadelman had a little help from their friends here Wednesday evening inside the Warrior Coliseum as head coach Blane Maddox’s program cruised past Vinton County, 58-36, in a Division II sectional semifinal.

Stadelman led all scorers with 23 points and tied teammate Jacob Sealey with a game-high five steals for the eighth-seeded Warriors, who watched Taylor go for a double-double of 18 counters and a game-high 10 caroms.

The No. 9 Vikings, who also entered the fray with a 16-6 record, didn’t have anyone crack double figures in scoring. Ashton Allman had nine, Cobra Sharp eight and Garrett Brown seven.

“We did a nice job defensively in the halfcourt. Broke down a couple times, but they had to work for most of their shots,” said coach Maddox, who was less than pleased after winning the turnover battle 23-19. “I was proud of our defense and if we would have cleaned the turnovers up it would’ve been an excellent game for us.

“(Nick) Cressey and Sealey gave us a huge spark off the bench and a lot of energy when we went there. It just turned the momentum of the game around. We played solid in the second half, got a lot of layups and got what we wanted. We made them work for every bucket.”

Warren, which takes on top-seeded Washington Court House at 7 p.m. Saturday, never trailed in the affair and finished 24 of 46 (52.2%) from the field while holding the Vikings to 30.2% (13 of 43).

Taylor opened the scoring 1:15 in with a pair of free throws and it was 6-0 after he converted a 6-foot floater from an Ayden Cornell assist. The Vikings finally got on the board when Sharp hit from deep at the 3:58 mark. Taylor assisted on a Chase Lupardus basket with 2:10 left in the quarter to make it 12-5, which was the score after one.

Another Lupardus deuce early in the second had the Vikings doubled up at 14-7, but Allman scored inside and Brown hit a 3 to cut it to a pair. VCHS closed to within one at 18-17 following a Sharp charity stripe make, but Stadelman hit two freebies and Taylor one for a 21-17 intermission advantage.

In the third, Vinton County was within two at 30-28 at the 3:11 mark following an Allman lay-in, but head coach NJ Kight’s team missed their final six field goals. Connor Barry, who finished with seven markers, answered Allman’s hoop with a 3. Deuces by Stadelman and Taylor gave the hosts a 37-28 advantage entering the fourth.

Vinton County found itself trailing by double figures for the first time when Stadelman had a layup to open the final period. Although Bradyn Cain connected from beyond the arc to cut the deficit to eight, Warren went on a 13-1 run to put the game away.

“They had a battle tonight with Hillsboro who is the 16 (seed) at their own place. They won by six,” coach Maddox said of Washington Court House. “We are going in there to get that and we want to take that and make that trip shorter than what it is going down there. We’ve watched them several times and we feel like we can compete with them. We are going down there expecting to win.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com