Before it could get control of the quickly escalating circumstance, the Warrenton girls basketball team found itself facing an already insurmountable deficit.The Warriors hopes of avenging a previous loss to 19-1 St. Charles were promptly extinguished in a 60-37 GAC road loss on Friday.Falling behind 16-2 in the opening moments, a resilient comeback fueled by sophomore Jenny Jansen wasn’t enough to turn the tables.“They came out really aggressive, and we couldn’t make a basket or get organized,” said Warrenton Coach Greg Williams.The Warriors’ scored the final six points of the first quarter on consecutive threes by Jansen, cutting the gap to 16-8.“Jenny got us right back in it,” said Williams. “She hit some big shots and got some stops and rebounds.”But a timeout to regain its composure would pay off for St. Charles, which offset a 20-15 margin with 10 uanswered points to close the half. Meanwhile, senior Kylie Toebben found herself in foul trouble.“We didn’t set good screens or block out and we got beat up and down,” said Williams. “We looked like we were playing in sand, and they looked they were playing on asphalt.”Warrenton particularly struggled defending post threat Gabby Walker, who made 70 percent of her attempts from the field on the way to a game-high 14 points.“St. Charles is a great team, and she’s a tough player to guard or rebound against,” said Williams. “She got in foul trouble for a while, and we were able to make a little run with her off the court. But when she was out there, it was challenging.”By the end of the third period, the Pirates had built a 44-28 lead.Williams says the dismal beginning quickly spelled the end for the Warriors.“You can’t give a team like that a 14-point start and expect to have any success,” said Williams. “They came out and forced us out of what we wanted to do.”The defeat places Warrenton in third place among the conference standings, having been swept by both St. Charles and St. Charles West.“We showed improvement against West, but St. Charles is the tougher of the two teams,” said Williams.The Warriors are now 13-7, having suffered all of their losses to ranked teams. Unlike in previous seasons, Williams says they do not have any inexplicable or inexcusable losses.“We’re 1-7 against ranked teams, which needs to get better, but we’re young and we are improving,” he added.Jansen finished with a team-best 12 for the Warriors, while senior Hannah Sutton scored eight points.Warrenton will travel to Winfield on Friday.WARRENTON GIRLS LOSE GAC MATCHUPDerrick Forsythe photo.