It appeared the Warrenton girls basketball season would come down to a 1-on-1 play between Allison Tonioli and Mexico’s Adria Costley.

Warrenton held a 37-36 lead with 16 seconds left in the Class 4, District 8 semifinal matchup in Hannibal Tuesday night, and Costley drove left as the clock ticked down.

But as so often happens, the first shot wasn’t what ended Warrenton’s season.

Tonioli forced Costley left and she missed the shot badly off the backboard.

Her teammate, sophomore Taylor Sherrow, was waiting on the right side of the key for the offensive rebound, however.

Sherrow scored off the glass with 2.1 seconds left for a 38-37 lead, and Warrenton failed to get a shot off after the inbound.

“That’s on the coach,” Head Coach Greg Williams said. “With all of our youth, I didn’t practice enough situations and scenarios with them this season, so I should have them better prepared to block out.”

On the previous possession, Warrenton sophomore Brooke Smith missed the front end of a 1-and-1, which could have given the Warriors a 3-point lead.

“We knew they had to foul, we just didn’t make enough free throws tonight,” Williams said. “We didn’t shoot well at all.”

In the first half, Warrenton guards seemed hesitant to shoot against Mexico’s 3-2 zone.

The urgency picked up in the final two quarters, but it didn’t result in a better percentage from deep.

“We had a chance to break it open but missed our chances, and they hit theirs, and there you have it,” Williams said. “If we just hit a couple more, we win the game. We need to become better shooters, so we need to work on that in the offseason.”

Defensively, Warrenton matched zone for zone, and Mexico had a similarly-poor performance in the first half.

But the Bulldogs’ improved shooting touch in the second half had Williams second-guessing his decision.

“They hit some big shots and got us out of our zone. I’m a man-to-man guy to be honest with you, and I should have stayed true to my self, but I was worried about foul trouble,” he said. “I kept hearing people tell me I had to play zone, and I’m not going to listen to that garbage anymore. We’re going to do what we do and be really good at it, and that’s how we’re going to win games.”

A district semifinal loss didn’t seem possible four months ago when Tonioli was injury-free and senior guard Rylie Cox was ready to go.

Like last season, the Warriors were working for a sectional matchup with state-ranked Incarnate Word.

But Tonioli battled lower-body injuries all season and Cox missed all but two games after fracturing a vertebrae in early December.

“I was hoping to have Rylie and everybody together and go play Incarnate (in sectionals), but it wasn’t meant to be,” Williams said. “But we’ll come back next year and try to get it done.”

Cox, along with fellow seniors Kayla Nelson and Ashtyn Dixon, will graduate with three district championships.

“These seniors could have had a chance at four district titles in a row, and I’m blessed to have coached this group,” Williams said. “It just comes down to a few things here and there.”