The last time Warrenton hosted its county rival on the hardwood, a freshman led the Warriors to victory. While Tuesday's meeting didn't require an ending reminiscent of the 2010 buzzer beater by T.J. Lafaver, it did fall strongly into the hands of a freshman. This time Alec Tonoili stole the show, using the hyped setting to unleash a career-high 17 points in the Warriors' 57-37 victory over Wright City. The first-year varsity player says he was feeling confident in warm-ups and carried the momentum throughout after catching fire early. "I started hitting my shots early and just fed off that," said Tonoili. "Any time you've got a freshman playing varsity, you know he's going to be talented." said Wright City coach Ken Brown. "He got a lot of shots from the corner early on and had a great game." Wright City silenced a packed Warrior nation during the first quarter, jumping out to a 7-2 lead on a three-pointer by junior Tyler Tuepker. Warrenton rallied, but the Wildcats matched their opponent bucket for bucket, notching the contest at 9-9 after the first quarter. "When they went to man, they didn't have an answer for Collin (Coats) or Justin (Wade) inside," said Brown. "We had a lot more ball movement when they were in man." A defensive change shifted the momentum, as the Warriors began forcing turnovers and disrupting the Wildcats' offensive flow. "They went into that 1-2-2 halfcourt trapping deal, and our kids did a bad job of adjusting to it," said Brown. "I give a lot of credit to Warrenton. They're defense really stifled us in the second quarter, and we could never find an adjustment." Tonoili knocked down a trey put the Warriors ahead early in the second period, and they would never trail again. Warrenton began pushing the ball out in transition and built a 24-14 lead by halftime. "We wanted to apply ball pressure and make their good ball handler give it up," said Hibbs. "For the most part we anticipated better tonight than we had." Senior Brett Eubanks dropped in 14 points, helping the Warriors extend their lead in the second half. He says the Warriors didn't shy away from Wright City's post players, attacking the ball as requested by Hibbs. "(Tonoili) told me before the game that he was feeling a breakout game for both of us," said Eubanks. "He was right about that. He played great tonight." Warrenton led by as much as 25 and had a chance to extend the margin at the charity stripe. But the Warriors' free-throw shooting was perhaps their weakest area on Tuesday, as they connected on just four of 14 attempts. The Warriors began to win the battle inside as the game progressed, with juniors Devin Roberts and Matt Schneider cleaning up the boards. They each had six points. "Our intensity level was really there tonight," said Hibbs. "When we switched defenses and picked the tempo up on offense, we got some good looks." Tonoili's starting role actually came as a result of filling in for injured players. On Tuesday senior Joey Curtis was sidelined with a stress fracture in his foot, and Tonoili stepped in to provide enough points to equal his and Curtis' average combined. "I just figured I needed to go out and play my hardest until Joey gets back," said Tonoili, who says he was unfamiliar with the magnitude of the meeting. Both coaches were also new to the rivalry, and Wright City's first-year leader says the noise level during the game provided an unexpected challenge. "(The atmosphere) was great," said Brown. "I know I learned one thing - I've got to put some hand signals up. I was yelling things, and noone was hearing a word I was saying." Coats and Wade each finished with 10 points for the Wildcats.