Warren’s Emma Ruhlman sits at the foul line after making three free throws to clinch the PIAA District 10 Class 5A championship Saturday against Slippery Rock at Warren Area High School. Photo by Cody Elms

WARREN, Pa. — Warren’s girls basketball team needed every last second of Saturday’s District 10 Class 5A championship game.

And then some.

Trailing 39-37, junior career 1,000-point scorer Emma Ruhlman was fouled on a missed 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

With no time left on the clock, and all by herself at the free-throw line, Slippery Rock fans and players screaming, Ruhlman went through her routine on each shot and calmly sank one … then two … then three.

For the 40-39 win, and the District 10 championship.

Her teammates, waiting with bated breath at half-court behind her and off to the right on the sidelines, stormed Ruhlman before the ball hit the floor.

Warren needed every teammate on this day.

And this some.

Ruhlman scored more points with no time on the clock than she did in four quarters.

Ruhlman, who averages 15 points per game, didn’t even attempt a shot until 5:28 left in the fourth quarter. She finished 5 for 5 at the free-throw line for 5 points.

Dragons point guard Riley Childress, who averages 14.6 points per game, and is also approaching 1,000 career points in her junior year, finished 2 for 2 at the line for 2 points. She had two shots from the field in the first half, yet the Dragons led 23-20.

In the first quarter, Gracie Ruhlman started it off with a 3-pointer, Teagan Paris had two layups — both off pretty feeds from Kelsey Stuart, and Stuart was 2 for 2 at the line. Warren led 9-7 after one.

It was more of the same in the second quarter — with Slippery Rock’s defense trying to take Emma Ruhlman and Childress out of the offense. Gracie Ruhlman started it and finished it with a bucket at 6:55 and then a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left in the half. Paris scored seven of her team-high 13 points in the second quarter. Stuart assisted her three times in the first half.

“We knew coming in that they were going to shut down Emma and Riley,” said Warren coach Lisa LaVan. “Their defense is phenomenal; they really are great defenders. So the last two days, it really was, ‘you other three are really going to have to step up.’ They did, and in a big way.

“With this team, nothing surprises me,” she said. “We knew that was our best chance in our game plan. She came in with hers and I knew what it was — I was pretty confident anyway. And we’ve been preparing all year for it. Emma and Riley score; that’s what they do. For the rest, it was do-or-die, and they knew it.”

For a very experienced team out of Slippery Rock that won the title in 2018 and lost the championship game to Warren in 2019, senior Anna Kadlubek kept them in it in the first half. She had 13 of her game-high 21 points.

Junior Bronwyn McCoy had two straight buckets to start the third quarter to give the Rockets the lead, 24-23.

Stuart kept playing lights-out, with a 3-pointer and a 2 to give Warren back a 28-24 lead. The Dragons led 32-26 going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, it began to look like Slippery Rock’s experience would take over, and it would be the Rockets’ game. Slippery Rock scored the first seven points of the quarter, and Kadlubek’s 3-pointer gave the Rockets a 33-32 lead.

Trading punches, Warren sophomore Gracie Ruhlman hit her third trey before Kadlubek — who will play at IUP — tied the score at 35-35.

Emma Ruhlman’s first shot of the game came shortly after, but her first points came after a technical foul call when Childress and Maryann Ackerman of Slippery Rock got tangled up for a little longer than necessary. Ruhlman hit both free throws for a 37-35 Warren lead.

McCoy tied the score underneath, and Childress had a chance to score on a drive to the hoop, but was called for an offensive foul, waving off the bucket.

Senior point guard Kelly Benson took advantage and put the Rockets up, 39-37, with 13 seconds remaining.

On the way back, Ruhlman missed for Warren and was forced to foul Benson for a one-and-one.

She missed the first, Emma Ruhlman rebounded, dribbled up court, and was fouled missing a 3-point attempt before the clock ran out.

“We were just talking about that (exact situation),” Ruhlman said of practicing free throws Friday with Childress and Stuart. “And I said, ‘Oh God, how would that ever happen? And that happened. I looked at the scoreboard and thought, if I make all three of these, we win the game. I always sing the A-B-Cs, so I started singing the A-B-Cs, and didn’t hear anything. After the first one … good, and I thought, ‘OK, this is not that hard’; free throws are supposed to be easy. I still can’t believe I made them and we won the game, and I’m so proud of Gracie, Teagan and Kelsey. They kicked butt.”

On both sides of the floor.

“It’s unreal the way we have been playing ‘D,'” said LaVan. “(Their top scorers) average 12, 8, 8, and 8. They spread the ball well. We were able to lock down, know our matchups, and they did a great job taking away their tendencies and the things that they do … Emma held (Hallie Raabe, 8 per game) to 1 point and Teagan held (Ackerman, 8 per game) to 0. That was huge.

“It got scrappy on both sides,” said LaVan. “It was amazing how much they let us play. They were consistent, and that’s all you can ask.”

The athletic Kadlubek was seemingly leading Slippery Rock (15-4) to a title, scoring 7 points in the fourth alone. McCoy contributed 11 points in the game, and no other Slippery Rock player added above 4.

Emma Ruhlman finished with 12 rebounds for Warren (21-3), and Stuart had five assists.

“Riley and I did what we had to do to create for them (Gracie, Teagan and Kelsey), and I thought we played very well on defense,” said Emma Ruhlman.

This is Warren’s second D10 title in three years and third in six years.

“It was the best ending you could ever imagine,” said Childress. “I am so happy.”

Paris admitted her eyes started to well up after Emma Ruhlman missed a jumper and was forced to foul Benson with 5.7 seconds to go.

“I thought we were done,” said Paris, “and I was pretty upset. Then they fouled (Emma). It was pretty crazy.”

Not so fast.

“Honestly, we’ve been playing together for such a long time, and this was our last game at home, so we wanted to go out with a bang; there’s no other way to do it than this,” said Stuart. “Lisa said they were going to key on (Emma and Riley), and we had to bring what we did today. It was enough.”

Warren was 10 for 10 at the free-throw line; the Rockets, 5 for 13.

“Free throws, she practices them all the time,” said LaVan of Emma Ruhlman, one of three daughters she has on the team. “I guess if there was anybody I’d want, it would be her. It would probably be a tie (with Riley Childress). But the right one was there.”

Only district champions advance to states in 2021, and Warren will open in the PIAA 5A single-elimination tournament on Saturday, March 20.

For Slippery Rock’s players, “they fought hard for that game as did Warren,” said Rockets coach Amber Osborn. “The end of the game is hard to stomach. Emma Ruhlman hit three incredibly hard shots. Hard way for those four seniors to go out. My heart goes out to them. They left a very special mark on our program.”

SLIPPERY ROCK (39)

Ackerman 0 0-0 0, McDermott 1 0-0 2, Benson 2 0-2 4, Raabe 0 1-2 1, McCoy 5 1-4 11, Kadlubek 8 3-5 21. Totals 16 5-13 39.

WARREN (40)

SRuhlman 0 0-0 0, Childress 0 2-2 2, Stuart 3 2-2 9, ERuhlman 0 5-5 5, Paris 6 1-1 13, GRuhlman 4 0-0 11. Totals 13 10-10 40.

3-point goals–Kadlubek 2, GRuhlman 3.

Slippery Rock 7 13 6 13 — 39

Warren 9 14 9 8 — 40