WARRENTON – If the door doesn’t open at first just keep on knocking.

The Lady Warriors did Monday afternoon.

And that door was the 3-point line where they connected on just one of their first 11 attempts from behind it.

The bounty of bricks built up some frustration and allowed Washington to hang around in the first round of the annual Warrenton Winter Shootout.

It got especially hairy when the Blue Jays hit the first bucket of the second half, which trimmed their deficit to just three points.

But that was before Dana Pruitt got dialed in from deep. At 5-foot-2, the shortest Warrior on the court was lethal from long range in the third.

Pruitt drained three straight 3s in the quarter as No. 2 seeded Warrenton pulled away for a 43-26 victory over No. 7 Washington.

“We knew we just had to keep fighting,” Pruitt said. “Keep pushing. We were confident in ourselves.”

Pruitt’s trio of treys was definitely a confidence booster for the hosts and helped spur a 20-2 surge that extended into the fourth.

“Three in a row is always nice, so Dana definitely gave us a big lift there,” Warrenton Coach Greg Williams said. “She’s a great kid and she plays with great energy. We can always count on her to compete and work hard.”

Pruitt matched a game-high nine points with fellow sophomore teammate Garniesha Love, who did most of her offensive damage on putbacks in the paint.

Seniors Miranda Nelson and Brooke Smith had eight points apiece. Point guard Lexi Frederick notched six points, Audrey Payne chipped in two and Zoe Klaus added a solitary point on a made free throw attempt.

Washington, which didn’t do itself any favors by committing 33 turnovers, was led offensively by junior guard Grace Landwehr’s seven points. Junior forward Sara Heggemann had four points and seven rebounds.

It’s been rough start to the season for the Blue Jays, whose record dropped to 0-9 overall, following a 1-24 mark last year. Though Washington had beaten Warrenton in10 previous meetings prior to Monday.

The Warriors have been hampered by some early key injuries with Kassidy Haller sustaining a torn ACL and Malea Payne a broken wrist, but seem to be coming together with younger players like Pruitt and Love stepping up to earn a season-best third consecutive victory.

Warrenton is an even 5-5 overall and played Gateway Legacy Christian Academy of Florissant in the tournament’s semifinals on Wednesday after Record Deadline.

No. 6 Gateway upset No. 3 Hannibal 72-64 in overtime in the first round with sophomore Ariana Williams scoring a career-high 27 points.

The Warrenton/Gateway winner will play either No. 1 Liberty Wentzville or No. 4 Moberly in the championship game, which was bumped up from Friday to Thursday at 8:30 p.m. due to forecasted inclement weather.

Warrenton fell 48-39 against Francis Howell North in last year’s grand finale after winning three consecutive titles.

Though Williams cautioned that the Warriors will need a stronger overall effort than the one they produced versus the Blue Jays if they hope to land a fifth straight championship game appearance.

“We really struggled in the first half (against Washington),” Williams said. “We have to hit those type of open shots they were giving us if we want to put teams away. It was kind of an ugly win but we’ll take it.”