Warrenton was unable to secure key defensive rebounds in their GAC North loss to St. Charles Tuesday night. 

Warrenton (2-3, 0-1 GAC North) fell to the Pirates 75-55 in their first home game of the season. After Joe Goldsmith hit a three point field goal on the first possession of the game, St. Charles went on a 15-2 run against Warrenton’s zone defense. With the Warriors trailing 15-5, head coach Mark Thomas called a timeout and the Warriors switched to man-to-man defense for the rest of the game. 

Thomas thought St. Charles “offensive rebounded” Warrenton out of their zone defense. 

“We knew that was an issue,” Thomas said. “That was the number one thing that we had keyed in during practice yesterday and we had keyed in on our board today talking about, we’re going to start zone. They will shoot the three. They’re gonna hit a few because we know they could shoot from the film. But we can’t allow when they miss one to get offensive rebounds and that’s what happens. So the more offensive rebounds they got out of it, we had to pull out because the score dictated that that’s what you do.” 

Warrenton closed the first quarter on a 5-0 run on a pair of free throws by Isham Keeper and a three point field goal from Troy Anderson. The Pirates regained a double digit lead with a 8-0 run to open the second quarter. St. Charles led Warrenton 41-23 at halftime. 

Despite trailing by as many as 22 points in both the third and fourth quarters, Warrenton trimmed their deficit to 14 points in the fourth quarter. The Warriors went on an 8-0 run on Anderson’s three-point play, a two-point basket from Goldsmith and a three point field goal from Deadrick Forrest. The Warriors were unable to execute on a pair of opportunities to secure a defensive rebound, helping St. Charles go on a 5-0 run and put the game out of reach. 

“I think that they were just comfortable with what they were doing,” Thomas said. “And so they were ok if we got a bucket here and there. So truly, they really didn’t run any offense in the second half from watching them. He wasn’t calling his sets. Only out of timeouts or inbounds plays was he running anything. They were just playing basketball and out athleting us because we weren’t playing defensively the way we should.”

Anderson led Warrenton with 24 points. Goldsmith also reached double figures for the Warriors, finishing the game with 12 points. 

With the loss, Warrenton sits at 2-3 on the season. They have earned wins over Fulton and Elsberry. The Warriors have also suffered a pair of one-point losses to Winfield and Hazelwood East. 

Thomas confirmed the Warriors are still learning to play together as a team after getting off to a late start this season. Warrenton did not start to practice as a full team until the week of their Jamboree due to the success of the football team. 

“We have to learn the advantages that the offense gives them and then learn to play basketball together, which is a tall task,” Thomas said. “But we’ve got a good group. They’re getting smarter each day and I hope that we gel faster.” 

Warrenton was slated to play at Union Dec. 7. They will play at North Point Dec. 12.