WARWICK — The Warriors didn’t make it easy, but they pulled out a thriller Monday evening.
There were 15 lead changes, including nine in the first half. But Warwick (6-6, 3-3, 2-1) grabbed a district win over May-Port-C-G (5-6, 3-2, 2-1) by a narrow score of 72-68 at Warwick High School.
“We are finding a way to make a play, defensively or offensively,” Warwick head coach Ryan Brown said. “The young guys are stepping in. The older guys are leading well. I think that’s one thing that’s really helping us get the ball back in our hands.”
Senior Elijah Feather Jr., fresh off his 1,000-point milestone, led the Warriors with 27 points. Sophomore Anthony Touche also came up enormous with 14 points in the fourth quarter to finish with 23 overall.
“They were a fast-paced team,” Feather Jr. said. “Both teams were. So we’ve just been pushing the floor. Sometimes we just slowed down. Some people were tired.”
Before the game, the Warriors brought their unique Senior Night customs to Monday’s night contest. Brown addressed the crowd before the game, describing what his two seniors — Feather Jr. and Dalton Joramo — have meant to him. He stressed the importance of being a student first and an athlete second, and how they’ve stuck with him through all their good days and bad days.
Brown also invited the opposing May-Port-C-G seniors up. He explained that it’s a Warwick tradition to honor the opponent’s seniors on Senior Night. A group of singers performed an honor song while all the seniors and their families formed a handshake line. The Warwick girls’ seniors were honored, too: Tara Jackson, Braylee Longie and Shelby Tollefson.
“We always want to acknowledge the fact that any senior at any school, they deserve recognition,” Brown said. “At some point, they’re gonna play their last game on a home floor or away floor… Send both teams off in a good manner for playoff time. But in this case, either way, we want to acknowledge that our seniors that have dedicated themselves and had careers at their schools. And it’s definitely worth honoring.”
After taking a few more pictures with the coaches and players together, the Warriors jumped into warm-ups.
May-Port-C-G struck first with a three-pointer right away. But Warwick clawed ahead on a pair of baskets by Touche and TJ Longie. The two seniors, Joramo and Feather Jr., hit back-to-back threes to put Warwick ahead 10-5.
The Patriots tied it back up, 12-12, on a successful three-ball after a couple of missed attempts. Free throws by Feather Jr. made it 14-12, but May-Port-C-G got back down the court and tied it, then reclaimed the lead on free throws.
Feather Jr. would have none of that. He swished a triple milliseconds before the buzzer of the first quarter. And Warwick led 17-16.
The Patriots started the second quarter the same way they began the first: with a trey. Feather Jr. tied it with a put-back, then knocked down a go-ahead three.
The Patriots got down the court twice, scoring four straight to take a 25-24 lead. The scoring hit a lull for both teams in the middle of the second quarter; the Warriors weren’t finding open looks, but the Patriots were struggling at the rim and missed a three from center-court that would have padded their advantage.
Then Aiden Black showed up.
He made a basket for Warwick with less two minutes left in the half, then carried his energy into the next possession with a three-pointer. May-Port-C-G took a timeout after Black had scored seven straight points, giving Warwick a 31-25 lead.
And so the Warriors led by three at halftime, 33-30.
The teams traded leads early in the second half. Feather Jr. had a hard time getting around May-Port-C-G’s guard pressure, but Joramo managed to tie it at 37-37. The Patriots missed a pair of free throws, and Touche made it 40-37 with an and-one.
The Warriors’ lead grew as large as seven after a 6-0 run. It was an 11-2 run for Warick at that point to make it 46-39. But May-Port-C-G swished a three to get back into it, then swung ahead 50-48 on three successive baskets.
Free throws from Touche briefly tied it. But the Patriots gave the Warriors a little taste of their own medicine, shooting a buzzer-beating three to end the third quarter. It was 53-48 in favor of May-Port-C-G.
So Warwick had some ground to make up. It trailed by as many as six in the fourth quarter. The Patriots were double-teaming Feather Jr., but he finally found an open look after May-Port-C-G turned it over.
Down 60-56 with 4:50 left, Warwick took a timeout.
The Patriots turned it over again after the break. Touche scored to get Warwick within two.
It was Touche, again, who put Warwick back in the lead. He landed his first three-pointer of the game. May-Port-C-G went ahead on a drive but missed the and-one. Buckets by Touche and Black gave the Warriors a two-possession lead.
Touche went 3-of-4 from the free throw line down the stretch, providing Warwick with critical points that prevented another Patriots comeback. The Warriors managed to hang on by the skin of their teeth and get the district win.
“He had a pretty quiet — relatively — game, until it mattered,” Brown said of Touche. “I think that’s one thing we know about the kid, is he’s got a mentality where he’s 100% from first quarter to end of the game. And when he needs to turn it on, he’s been our X-factor this year.”
The Warriors travel to McVille to play another district opponent in Nelson County on Thursday.