Warren’s Aubrey Pepper, center, handles the ball while being guarded by Marietta’s Hayleigh Chidester, left, and Braxtyn Kroft during Thursday’s game at Sutton Gym. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

On a night where points were very hard to come by, any kind of a run at all was bound to make a difference in the rivalry showdown between the Warren Warriors and the Marietta Tigers Thursday night at Sutton Gymnasium.

Trailing by three points midway through the fourth quarter, Warren went on to score the final 13 points of the game and stunned the Tigers 34-26 to pick up their fourth win of the season in five tries.

A physical Warren defense gave the Tigers fits all game long and led to the late run that saved the Warriors on a night where they shot just 32 percent from the floor and made just nine field goals in the entire game.

“That was a typical Marietta versus Warren, hard fought, physical game and I’m so proud of each and every one of them,” said Warren head coach Brad Venham. “They (MHS) hung a pair of 20-point losses on us last year so to come here and get a win is big for us.”

At times the game looked more like a football game as it seemed like both teams were on the floor as much as they were on their feet.

The referees called more than 40 fouls between the two rivals and between them they shot 49 free throws.

Warren led by a point after the first quarter and stretched its advantage to four at the intermission (16-12).

Tiger junior Braxtyn Kroft scored all six of her team’s points in the second quarter.

A pair of free throws from junior Aubrey Pepper gave Warren a six-point lead in the third quarter before the Tigers rallied to take the lead.

A drive to the bucket for two by Tiger senior Hayleigh Chidester got the run started and she followed that up with a pair of free throws to cut the lead to two.

Marietta got some great minutes off their bench from junior Kenadee Strauss and her three-pointer with less than three minutes to play in the third quarter gave the Tigers the one-point lead.

Warren’s Jayda Murray and Chidester both made a free throw later in the quarter as the Tigers clung to a 20-19 lead going into the final quarter.

A pair of free throws by Strauss to open the fourth gave MHS a three-point lead but Warren quickly rallied to tie things back up on a two-pointer by sophomore Josie Venham and a free throw from freshman Danica Gates.

The Tigers got what appeared to be a huge triple from freshman Blaire Reed to give them a three-point lead before Warren’s Juliana Huffman and Chidester traded free throws to leave the Tigers holding a three-point lead with less than four minutes to play in the game.

The next half minute would play a huge role in deciding the outcome of the game as the Warriors scored six points in less than 30 seconds to turn the three-point deficit into a three-point lead.

A Huffman two-pointer off of an assist from Danica Gates got things started before Venham intercepted the in-bound pass and assisted Pepper on a bucket that would put the Warriors in front for good.

Danica Gates came up with another steal as the Tigers struggled to get the ball up the court and the freshman cashed it in on the other end to give Warren a 29-26 lead.

“We want to transition our defense into offense and we were able to do that when we needed to the most,” said Venham. “We hang our hat on our defense and I was super proud of our effort and our intensity.”

On a night where the Warriors made just 15-of-31 free throws, junior Delaney Gates was clutch down the stretch as she made her final four from the charity stripe to allow the Warriors to pull away.

Pepper scored a team-high 11 points and pulled down nine boards in the game despite missing the second half of the third quarter and the first half of the fourth in foul trouble.

After a strong freshman year, Pepper missed her entire sophomore year due to a knee injury.

Venham feels like his team is still getting used to having the talented Pepper back on the court.

“We are still trying to figure out after a whole year of not having her out there, how to play with her (Pepper),” said Venham. “We are heading in the right direction and you can’t coach attitude and effort and I didn’t have to tonight.”

Delaney Gates finished with seven points for Warren while Murray added five.

Danica Gates also scored five points and her five steals and three assists were instrumental in the Warriors getting the win.

The Tigers were led by Chidester with nine points while Reed and Kroft finished with six points apiece.

Kroft also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for Marietta who fell to 2-3 on the season with the loss.

The Tigers will play Morgan at home on Monday while Warren is off until next Thursday when they travel to Meigs.