The Warrenton girls basketball team wasn’t just playing against host Winfield on Friday; the Warriors were, in a manner of speaking, playing against the history books.

The 44-41 come-from-behind win over the host not only gave the team its first GAC North conference win, but it also extended the team’s dominance over the conference rival to at least 33 straight games, dating back to the last century.

Warrenton coach Hannah Logan was surprised about the dominance when she found out.

“Really? That is very exciting,” Logan said. “We had a chip on our shoulders. We were their Courtwarming and their senior night and you get to pick that night. I told the girls to think of that in the approach they wanted to take to this game because we know how important senior night and court warming are when we play somebody at our house.”

In the end, it was Warrenton sophomore guard Claire Goldsmith who put Warrenton (7-11) over the top.

She sank one of her two free throws with seven seconds remaining to break a 41-all tie before a pair of free throws by senior Makayla Witthuas just seconds later gave Warrenton its final cushion.

“There was a lot going through my mind; the gym was really loud,” said Goldsmith of her winning toss. “I knew I just had to make one. I needed to get the ball into the bucket. I knew I’d been inconsistent during the game on my free throws. I made the one that matters, though.”

Another reason Goldsmith might have had a lot to think about was that the team made just 11-of-28 free throws in the game and, with just more than a minute left, sank only one of four free throws after a Winfield technical foul.

Still, the sophomore accomplished all that was required of her, her coach said.

“I told her before the free throws that she had to make one, that’s it,” Logan said. “We needed the lead and she gave it to us. She did just what we asked. This was a tremendous win. It showed that our girls didn’t give up, even when things weren’t going well on offense. They found a way. They did the job together.”

The final lead was something Warrenton was forced to work hard for, especially in the final quarter.

After Warrenton jumped to a 17-10 lead after the first quarter and a 27-26 advantage at halftime, Winfield came out strong in the second half.

Winfield took a 38-31 lead in the third quarter and held it into the fourth, as neither team scored for more than five minutes between the end of the third and the start of the fourth quarter.

“The score stayed that way forever, it felt like, right?” Logan said. “Winfield only scored three points in the fourth quarter, so that was huge for us defensively. We got stops when we couldn’t find a way to score. That was important because it gave us the chance to win.”

Junior guard Sophia Benke led Warrenton with 18 points while senior forward Zoe Duncan added 10, Witthaus scored seven and Goldsmith six.

“Our communication and our positivity were the things that helped us earn this win,” Benke said. “We were down seven and we could have just let the game slip away. We just kept fighting and everyone played a big role in this win. We wanted this and we worked hard for it.”

Playing the spoiler on the road had Goldsmith beaming.

“It feels so good to win on their court warming,” she said. “Anytime you can have a great win like this, it feels so good.”

Warrenton will get its chance to enjoy its own court warming at 5:30 p.m. on Friday when the team hosts Orchard Farm.

On January 23, Orchard Farm beat Warrenton 51-35 at home.

“It’ll be fun to experience our Courtwarming,” Logan said. “We just want to keep working hard and keep getting better, and we’ll see where we are (in terms of improvement from the last meeting).”