Warwick steps it up in second half to lift Modesto Christian girls past Enochs

Modesto Christian guard Nicole Warwick stood with her back pressed against the wall of the corridor connecting Enochs High’s basketball court to the girls locker rooms, searching for an explanation as to why the Crusaders consistently get off to such a slow start.

“It’s definitely a habit we need to break, of course,” said Warwick, who scored a game-high 23 points in a closer-than-it-looks 56-43 Modesto Metro Conference victory over the Eagles on Thursday. “We’re overlooking teams, definitely, at times ... and somebody always expects someone else to step up.”

Last season, during a run to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II title, the person to step up was almost always Candice White, The Bee’s Player of the Year, now at Fresno State. This year, more than 20 games into the season, it’s still not clear who, if anyone, will replace White as the team’s compass.

“I feel like that is supposed to be my job,” said Warwick, who played on MC’s state championship team as a freshman and has won two section championships. “I’m not good at it ... but I’m trying.”

After a first half that saw the teams head for the locker rooms with the score knotted at 24, Warwick scored 17 points in the second half, with 12 of those coming in the fourth quarter when MC outscored Enochs 21-9. Senior Lailoni Gaines also came up big over the final eight minutes with seven of her 14 points.

“We have been saying it the whole time about driving to the basket, attacking gaps, and when (the defense) commits, make that easy pass,” said MC coach Robb Spencer, who has guided his teams to seven Sac-Joaquin Section banners since taking over the program in the 2001-02 season. “I think both of them got the message. It makes a huge difference when the kids realize what works and what doesn’t.”

The Eagles (8-3), who drop into a tie with Beyer for second place in the Modesto Metro Conference behind the Crusaders (11-0), moved to their biggest lead of the game – 21-15 – with less than a minute left in the first half. But MC closed with a 9-3 run to square things heading into the break.

The script was flipped in the third quarter when MC bolted to a 31-26 advantage, only to see the Eagles close with an 8-4 surge that cut the Crusaders’ edge to one point heading into the final quarter, where Warwick and Gaines took over and Enochs went scoreless for a three-minute stretch.

“We got great shots and had good looks, but they just weren’t falling,” said Eagles coach Curtis Reynolds, whose team fell 49-39 on Jan. 12 in Salida. “It was the same thing the last time.”

Enochs guard Katie Dillon, a senior coming off a 30-point effort in a win last week against Beyer, was held to 14 points. The school’s all-time leading scorer was constantly harassed by MC defenders and hit just three field goals in the contest. Zakiya Williams chipped in with 10 points.

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 8:39 AM with the headline "Warwick steps it up in second half to lift Modesto Christian girls past Enochs."