On Monday, January 29th, the Warrior basketball team took a trip to Harmony to take on the Owls. After winning the tip-off, Harmony made a three to start up 3-0. The Warriors quickly responded with a three-pointer of their own from Lukas Colton. A fastbreak layup from Zach McGonigal and another three from Colton gave the Warriors the early lead. Once again, the Warriors stuck from downtown with back-to-back 3-pointers from Koleno and Colton. After two layups from Harmony, the Warrior lead was cut to just one. A floater from Koleno put the Warriors up by three, but a Harmony 3-pointer tied up the game. Colton kept his monster first quarter going with another three, putting him to 12 points in the first quarter alone. Two quick points from Harmony gave the Owls a three-point lead late in the first quarter. The Owls ended the first quarter with a seven-point lead, 28-21.

The Warriors struck early in the second, with a 3-pointer from Dylan McGonigal. Following two layups from Harmony, Zach McGonigal came right back with a three. After some buckets from both teams, Zach McGonigal made yet another three to cut the Owl lead to just four. Two layups from Joel Evans erased the Warriors’ deficit and tied the game up with two minutes left in the half. A transition layup from Isaac Tiracorda gave the Warriors a two-point lead. West Branch closed out the half with a four-point lead, 42-28.

The Owls started the half with a three-pointer, however, Tiracorda answered right back with one of his own. A Harmony three and midrange gave the Owls a 2-point lead early in the half. Another Owl layup and two Owl free throws gave Harmony a 6-point lead. A 3-pointer from Zach McGonigal cut the Owl lead to two, and a Tiracorda layup tied up the game. At the end of the third, the score was tied up at 56.

After back-and-forth scoring from both teams, a pair of Evans free throws, a Tiracorda layup, and a Koleno fastbreak layup gave the Warriors a 6-point lead. The Warriors started piling it on, with layups from Evans, Tiracorda, and Colton.  The Warriors closed out the game with a score of 77-66. Koleno finished with 21 points, Tiracorda had 19, and Colton had 16. 

Lukas Colton commented on the game, “We played very well in the second half. They came out hitting in the first half, but we kept our composure and played hard defensively. We switched it up on defense and we locked in and won the game.”

The Warriors (16-2) are back in action on Tuesday, February 6th, to take on the Vikings of Glendale.