Patience was a virture during the Warrenton boys basketball team's 30-24 win over New Haven on Tuesday. The Warriors found their comfort zone against a team that is prone to minute-long possessions. Coach Trevor Hibbs acknowledges New Haven as one of the most disciplined teams in the state, but he says their slow tempo was right in line with Warrenton's style of play. "They try to control the tempo and play tough defense," said Hibbs. "I think that probably played into our favor, because our guys never got too tired and there was never too large of a deficit." Senior Joey Curtis says the win was refreshing, proving the Warriors are capable of finishing out games. "This was a big step in the right direction, especially after our tough loss to West," said Curtis. "We wanted to come out and get our next home game, and who better than New Haven, probably the best coached team that we'll play all year." In a low-scoring affair where every possession was crucial, Hibbs made sure he locked down the Shamrocks' most dangerous weapons, including a powerful post and skilled point guard. Hibbs employed junior Devin Roberts to use his strong upper body to neutralize the strength of New Haven's Lance Gerlemann down low. Gerlemann finished the game with two fouls and zero points. "He played great defense on him," said Hibbs. "I had a talk with Devin and told him I wanted him to match up with him, and he did a great job ... And we had to guard their outside guys too, because they're all scorers." "Their guard was a pretty guard shooter so coach wanted me to stick to him quite a bit," said senior Brett Eubanks. "They were screening him pretty well, and I just had to fight through it." The final six-point deficit was the largest margin of the entire contest. Warrenton led 8-4 after the first quarter, and the game was deadlocked at 14-14 at halftime. New Haven led 22-19 heading into the final period, before the teams swapped leads on several occasions. Junior Matt Schneider gave the Warriors a 25-24 advantage with 2:41 remaining, and the Shamrocks struggled offensively in the closing moments. "We played heady," said Curtis. "I think after so many tough losses this year we finally learned from the mistakes and figured how to close out games. We just came out and executed and knocked down free throws." A turnover and subsequent pair of free throws by Chris Hertel with 26.5 seconds left secured the victory for Warrenton. While New Haven had been deemed a crisp fundamental team, it was the Warriors who made the smartest decisions down the stretch. "Our team executed what we were supposed to do," said Hibbs. "Offensively, we improved about 25 to 30 percent." Curtis finished with nine points, while Schneider added seven.