The Warrenton boys basketball team had a fast start to the season and quickly ramped up to a 4-0 start. Nearly a month later, the Warriors have found themselves in the opposite position after dropping their fourth consecutive game.

Instead of prolonging the loss, Head Coach Mark Thomas wants to turn the attention to the team and only the team.

“We just need to believe in each other and believe in the team. When times get tough, you can’t listen to all the outside noise,” Thomas said after the 63-47 loss to Orchard Farm on Jan. 24. “They have to come together, as well as with the coaching staff, so we can all present and believe in what we’re doing. Then, things can grow from there.”

The Warriors were down at the end of each quarter (22-11,32-19, 48-32).

Thomas noted that when a team goes through a slump or a losing streak, it can change your mindset. Further specifying that if an opposing team even makes one three-pointer, it could lead to dropping your head.

“We got to get our own confidence back and that’s going to come from practice. You can’t earn that in the game,” Thomas said. “We got to tune out all the outside noise and think about us. Once we do that, we should be able to get back to doing things a little more clean.”

He added there were parts of the game where the Warriors strayed away from basic fundamentals, something they have been keying in on. They knew coming into the game it would be a “dog fight” and they wanted to play man-to-man, but ultimately Orchard Farm was able to have balanced scoring from inside the paint as well as long range.

Warrenton and Orchard Farm both tallied eight three-pointers, but Orchard Farm’s ability to get around the rim allowed them to stack up the points.

“That was a good team. Obviously, they have a lot of great shooters,” Thomas said. “We just got to get back to the basics and get down low and use our post play inside-out.”

The Warriors also incorporated a new offense but only had two days beforehand to really focus on it. Thomas said it was working fairly well but they need more time to get acclimated.

On the offensive side, Eli Peth led Warrenton in points with 12, with all coming from four treys. Taylor Anderson also reached double figures with 10 points.

“It’s the same thing I said after the last game. It’s about us right now. We need to get us figured out, play together a little better and trust in the process,” Thomas said.

Since the loss and shifting their focus, the Warriors have ended their streak and defeated Belle 62-56 on Jan 28.