MOUNT VERNON — The Warden Cougars certainly didn’t play like a team in their first regional round of the 1A Hardwood Classic Saturday afternoon at Mount Vernon High School.

The No. 7 Cougars (17-7) were a stone’s throw away from pulling off the first major upset of the tournament. They led No. 2 Lynden Christian (20-5) by four a minute into the fourth quarter and tied it up again with two minutes remaining, but free throws and a couple of big 3-point baskets gave the Lyncs a 61-55 victory.

“We gave ourselves a chance. We were really worried about rebounding and dealing with their height advantage.” Warden coach Wes Richins said. “They hit a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter with the shot clock running out. They hit another one that started a fourth-quarter run. But we gave ourselves a shot and I feel pretty good about our effort.”

J.R. Delgado finished with a team-high 19 points. Adam Richins had 18 and Tanner Skone added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Cougars.

“The turning point was when they hit those two 3-pointers back-to-back,” Adam Richins said. “We played like we wanted to, but they basically beat us at the end.

“We’ll be fine moving forward. I think all our nervousness is gone. We’ll go into the (Yakima Sun) Dome and play with confidence. The key will be how we play defensively and if we can get out on the transition and hit our shots.”

Delgado scored a combined 83 points in the previous three district games. He had his shot going on Saturday where the Cougars rattled sabers with Lynden Christian.

“We played our basketball and it was a good game for us to take it to the next level. I think it gave us a lot of confidence that we can play with anybody,” the 6-foot-3 senior said. “Defensively we contained their big guys today and we actually rebounded well.

“I think we’ll go into Wednesday’s game with confidence. We need to get our transition going, get our tempo and hit our shots. We’ll be fine.”

Warden plays No. 10 Kings Way Christian in the 5:30 p.m. game at the Yakima SunDome on Wednesday.

Score by quarters

Warden 9 12 19 15 - 55

Lynden Christian 10 15 15 21 - 61

Warden - Zach Richins 4, Martin Arriaga 3, Tanner Skone 11, Adam Richins 18, J.R. Delgado 19. Totals: Field goals: 14. 3-point goals: 11. Free throws: 16-20. Score: 55

Lynden Christian: Jordan Riddle 10, Colson Bajema 10, Andrew De Vries 9, Bryce Bouwman 3, Cristian Colwell 11, Grant Rubbert 16, Josh Westra 6. Totals - Field goals: 22. 3-point goals: 7. Free throws: 10-14. Score: 61