Lake Roosevelt 48, Warden 44

WARDEN — Trailing 13-6 after the first quarter, Lake Roosevelt turned the pressure on Warden, using a trapping defense and a fast-break attack to rally for a 48-44 victory over the Lady Cougars Tuesday.

Lake Roosevelt rallied from down seven early to build a 46-35 lead with just over three minutes to play in the game. Not to be discouraged, Lady Cougars Kacie McPartland and Britney Yamane responded with back-to-back baskets to get Warden to within seven points of the visitors.

Trailing 48-39 with 30 seconds left in the game, McPartland hit a pair of free throws to bring Warden to within seven. After a quick Lake Roosevelt turnover, McPartland drained a baseline three-pointer with 14 seconds to play that brought Warden to with four at 48-44. Time would run out on the Warden comeback, as the final buzzer sounded on the Lady Cougars before they could score again.

In the first quarter, Warden seemed comfortable with the pace of play, methodically working around the Lady Raider defense and getting good scoring opportunities in their half-court offense. Defensively, Warden was able to keep Lake Roosevelt in check, playing tight defense on the Lady Raider ball handlers and frequently getting a hand in the face of the Lake Roosevelt shooters.

As the second quarter began, the game turned in favor of the Lady Raiders. Lake Roosevelt opened the period with an 8-0 run to take a 14-13 lead, but Warden then responded with a pair of free throws from McPartland that put the Lady Cougars back on top. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the first half, with Lake Roosevelt taking a 26-25 lead into the locker room at halftime. Warden, which early in the game was dominant on defense, had trouble stopping the Lady Raider fast-break attack.

"When they started running, we were out of position a little bit," said Warden coach Todd Kisler of his team's trouble stopping the fast break. "They like to get up and down the court."

Turnovers were another problem in the game for Warden. Lake Roosevelt employed a trapping defense that tallied 23 steals on the night, contributing heavily to Warden's 37 turnovers in the game. By comparison, Warden had five steals in the game.

"We need to be more patient and cut down on turnovers," noted Kisler.

Trailing 37-34 early in the fourth quarter, Katie McPartland was fouled on a shot attempt. The Warden senior hit both of her free throws to bring the Lady Cougars to within a point of Lake Roosevelt with six minutes to play in the game. From that point, however, Lake Roosevelt went on a 9-0 scoring run to take a 46-35 lead.

Kacie McPartland led Warden with 20 points Tuesday, while Ashton Stott pulled down a team-high 17 rebounds.