Poor decision-making hindered any chance the Warrenton girls basketball team had of snapping its postseason losing streak during the Class 4 District 7 Tournament at St. Charles High School on Monday.Predictable passes led to the Warriors committing 21 turnovers, ultimately allowing St. Dominic to cruise to a 62-42 victory."I knew they would try to run," said Woodruff. "They jumped the passing lanes, and we didn't get back defensively to stop the transition. We gave up at least five layups that way in the first half."Woodruff says she was convinced her team was worthy of its No. 4 seed, but isn't sure the Warriors bought into the notion."You've got to come here believing," said Woodruff. "I told them, 'We're 0-0, just like everyone else heading into districts.' We've got to believe and give ourselves a chance to win."Warrenton appeared capable of playing the spoiler role for a while, using three-pointers and free throws to narrow a 17-12 margin after one quarter.Freshman Jenny Jansen pulled the Warriors to within one at 17-16 on a pair of charity shots, and classmate Kaylee Anderson provided punch from the outside.But the Warriors' ability to score instead was severely limited by St. Dominic's overwhelming size, with the Crusaders' possessing three players 6 foot or taller. Warrenton had no match, with Jansen supplying the most height at 5-foot-10."We wanted to attack the basket and get them in foul trouble," said Woodruff. "But when they're taller than us, we've got to pull up and shoot it. With them having such a huge front line, we knew we'd have to knock down a few shots from the outside to stay competitive"Woodruff says it was careless ballhandling, not a size disadvantage, that burdened the Warriors most."They kept switching defenses," said Woodruff. "They went from a man-to-man to their 1-2-2."St. Dominic began picking passing lanes and tore off on a 13-0 run to close out the half in control 33-21.The Warriors desperation under the basket continued during an extremely physical second half that saw frequent trips to the free-throw line."In our 2-3 zone we weren't keeping the ball out in the middle," said Woodruff. "When they did catch it in the middle, we didn't step up and they drove. We just stood too much on the defensive end."Neither team was exceptionally accurate from the charity stripe, but St. Dominic knocked down 7 of 15 tries to move ahead 53-34 after three quarters.Woodruff saw improved play by her team, but by that time it was too late."We got a little more active on defense in the second half and were able to create from our 1-2-2," said Woodruff. "But as soon as we'd get a steal, we'd turn around and give it right back."Warrenton hit 6 of 11 free throw attempts and was led by junior Hannah Sutton with 17 points.Jansen finished with 10 points."St. Dominic played as a team and can run people in and out, whereas we're limited in depth," said Woodruff.The Warriors finished the season 12-12.

Warrenton freshman Jenny Jansen shoots during the Warriors' loss on Monday.

Derrick Forsythe Photo.