Warrenton Head Coach Greg Williams installed the play Saturday morning.

Later that day, Williams, his players and Warrenton fans were glad he did as they celebrated a 40-39 win over Mexico in the Gary Filbert Classic.

Mexico took its first lead off an offensive rebound with five seconds remaining, and Warrenton responded with a timeout to go over the play one more time.

Sophomore guard Rylie Cox received the inbound pass near midcourt, dribbled down the left sideline and found junior forward Jenny Jansen flashing to the free-throw line.

The Mexico defense overplayed the pass, Jansen caught the ball, pivoted and laid the game-winning shot in off the glass as time expired.

“That was a religious moment there,” Williams said. “We needed that one.” Jansen led the team with 20 points.

Warrenton led 24-13 at halftime and seemed halfway to another blowout win, but everything started falling apart.

“We were in great defensive position early, and then I started flirting around with doing some stuff we’ve practiced,” Williams said. “And I think I got them a little confused. We started thinking too much and couldn’t even make simple passes.”

The Warriors let Mexico back into the game in the second half with unforced errors and bad shots. 

Mexico pressed most of the night before falling into a halfcourt zone defense, and Williams saw a mismatch in his team’s favor.

Sophomore forward Kayla Nelson entered the game in the third quarter and scored on consecutive possessions on the left block.

At that point, Williams’ instructions were clear: Get the ball to Nelson.

“She comes in and gets two baskets, and I thought I made it clear  that we’d just do that all night, but then we’re shooting unnecessary 3s,” Williams said. “We’re young, and we just need to learn how  to make that happen.”

Nelson finished with six points, but didn’t score the rest of the night.

Nelson said she prefers a zone defense, which gives her room to find space to post up.

“After I made those two in a row, he didn’t understand why they didn’t give it to me a third time, so he was just a little flustered,” she said. “But we came out OK.”

Mexico outscored Warrenton by 10 in the second half.

“We don’t play like that normally,” Jansen said. “We’ve been working a lot harder and it didn’t show tonight. I think we’re just a little rusty.”

The Warriors face a back-loaded schedule that features 11 games in January and nine in February, but the team had played only four games leading up to Saturday.

Williams stressed, however, that the lack of games was not an excuse for his team’s performance in a game they “should have won by a bunch.”

The Warriors travel to St. Charles West Thursday night, and host the Warrenton Winter Classic next week.

“Every season you have one bad game, so we just got that out of the way,” Williams said. “Hopefully it is smooth sailing ahead.”

LAY IT IN — Warrenton forward junior Jenny Jansen scores two of her 20 points during Saturday's 39-38 win over Mexico.                                                   Kory Carpenter photo.