After a long stint of several decades competing in the Hermann Tournament, Coach Mark Thomas decided his team needed a change of scenery.
More specifically, he wanted them to match up against some …
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After a long stint of several decades competing in the Hermann Tournament, Coach Mark Thomas decided his team needed a change of scenery.
More specifically, he wanted them to match up against some less familiar and potentially more challenging opponents. The move was made to the Union Tournament, and following a 1-2 finish against a slate of larger opponents last week, Thomas is pleased with the debut showing.
“I think it’s a really good tournament for us,” said Thomas. “We get to face teams our size or larger, whereas at Hermann we were the largest school.”
The Warriors opened with a 58-53 defeat against Rockwood Summit, before beating Union 55-42 and ultimately falling to Lutheran South 59-46 in the consolation game on Saturday.
“I felt like we had a pretty good showing in every game we played,” said Thomas. “There’s some things we’ve got to clean up on our end.”
The Warriors competed closely with Lutheran South through three quarters, allowing the opposition to pull away in the final period.
“Our turnovers led to them getting layups,” said Thomas. “It was a close game the whole way, and we went man-to-man to close the gap, but it made it worse. Untimely turnovers and poor shot selection by us let them pull away.”
The Warriors were also limited in balanced scoring, with seniors Sam Toenges and Brett Smith accounting for the bulk of the points. Toenges netted a game-high 25 points, while Smith scored 13, with the remaining 12 points distributed among four players.
“I credit that to the other coaching staff, because they take away the guy who had last good game, said Thomas. “We can’t get everybody consistently scoring on the same day.”
“It was a tight back and forth game all the way through three quarters,” said Thomas. “Sam did a good job of keeping us in it, scoring 16 out of 19 to start. We executed really well in the halfcourt.”
The Warriors got out to a 10-9 lead after one quarter, staying competitive through the second. Lutheran South clung to a 20-19 advantage at halftime, guided by four players in double figures.
“We let it get away in the fourth quarter,” said Thomas. “Once they got it to about seven our shot selection really detoriated.”
Warrenton committed four turnovers down the stretch, allowing Lutheran South baskets in transition.
“That forced us to press, and they ran some good stuff and executed when we couldn’t,” said Thomas. “We battled until the end of the game. I don’t discount our effort. We played hard the whole game.”
Smith was named to the All-Tournament Team.
“Brett has been solid for us all year but has really stepped his game up as of late,” said Thomas. “If we get in tight situations, he’s not afraid to go to the rack and create something. He’s been big in facilitating a lot for other guys scoring. He’s playing with more edge to his game.”
