Warrenton’s Gateway Athletic Conference North title hopes were dashed by a 3-2 zone.

The Warriors needed to beat St. Charles on the road Monday night to earn a share of the GAC North crown, but the offense sputtered in a 45-23 loss.

“They’ve gotten us twice now,” Warrenton Head Coach Greg Williams said. “We’ve got to do a better job of attacking zone defenses.”

The Pirates gave a similar performance in a 53-30 win over the Warriors Feb. 5.

Monday night, senior forward Gabby Walker led all scorers with 23 points while grabbing 11 rebounds.

The Pirates extended their six-point first-quarter lead to 26-10 at halftime, and led 40-18 going into the fourth.

Much of Walker’s offense came from offensive rebounds and fastbreak buckets, which were created by attacking the Warrenton guards from the zone and creating turnovers.

“We have to get better ball movement,” Williams said. “You don’t need to dribble three times before passing it. You can fake a pass to make a pass, swing it and get the ball moving.”

St. Charles senior center Tanisha Wilson finished with eight points and harassed Warrenton forwards in the paint on both ends of the court.

Williams said his players seemed intimidated by St. Charles’ size.

Walker, who is committed to play basketball at Lindenwood University next season, got the best of Warrenton’s Jenny Jansen for the second time this season.

“She’s a Division II basketball player and Jenny is a Division I softball player,” Williams said. “If we were playing softball, all of my money is on Jenny. But tonight we played basketball. Jenny is getting used to guarding her, though, so hopefully she will be ready if we meet again.”

If both teams win their respective district tournaments, a third meeting would take place in a few weeks in sectionals.

Warrenton (18-4, 8-2) received the No. 1 seed in the District 8 bracket.

St. Charles (17-7, 10-0) landed the top seed in District 7.

Williams lauded sophomore guard Rylie Cox’s performance Monday night.

Cox led the Warriors with 11 points and often picked up the St. Charles points guard the length of the court.

Senior forward Amanda Lafaver checked in in the third quarter for the first time in over a month, testing out her injured elbow she suffered in the Jan. 15 win over Duchesne.

“I thought about playing her in the first half, but after seeing what kind of game this was, I didn’t think it was good,” Williams said. “We’re going to need her down the stretch.”

Lafaver left the game in pain in the third quarter, but expects to play in the district opener against Mexico March 3.

Following its other three losses this season, Warrenton responded with three winning streaks of at least five games.

Williams said he is looking forward to a week of rest and practice before beginning another streak in the postseason.

“We’re going to work on attacking zones,” he said. “We need to get our swag back, too. And I think we will.”