WARDEN — Warden suffered its first loss of the season last weekend in the South Central Athletic Conference district championship game.

Warden head coach Josh Madsen said he feels like his team is taking the loss in stride, adding that it was “very much a learning experience” for the girls.

“We went back and watched film, especially the first half, just kind of broke it down,” Madsen said. “They see how much we left out on the table there. We were playing really, really hard, we just weren’t playing very smart. Therefore, we weren’t productive.”

The Cougars coach said, if anything, it helped his team refocus heading into the next stage of the postseason.

“I do think the loss rattled their cages a little bit, they can’t just show up,” Madsen said. “Some of the little things they got away with against weaker competition earlier in the season, we can’t get away with against this level of competition.”

Heading toward the 1A Hardwood Classic Tournament as the No. 3 seed, the Cougars will look to secure a trip to the state quarterfinals on Saturday against King’s.

Madsen said he expects a “battle of styles” at Big Bend on Saturday, facing up against a “very big” team.

“They have a lot of size, and we feel like they’re gonna want to slow it down and let their size stay involved in the game,” Madsen said. “We, of course, want to beat them up.” King’s played La Salle, the SCAC district champion, on Dec. 13 and lost 44-24. However, King’s did beat 4A Moses Lake 52-47.

Madsen expects their opponent on Saturday to be perfectly content with the game ending in the 40s or low 50s. The Cougars’ head coach said he wants to try and speed them up, and see if they can’t get it up into the 60s or 70s.

Madsen said he really just tries to keep things simple with a primarily younger team heading into the weekend. Talking a lot about confidence this week, he said they’ve been pushing a quote: “Confidence comes with preparation.”

Madsen said his team’s been building up to this moment all season.

“Some of these girls have been preparing for this for years,” Madsen said. “They’re not just showing up, they’re been preparing for this moment. Because of this, we can show up with our heads up, knowing we’re a good team.” The Cougars coach said he’s excited for another great atmosphere at Big Bend on Saturday, with three Basin teams squaring off. The best team doesn’t always come out on top in basketball, Madsen said, but the best team that day will.

“Now, we’ve got to be prepared to bring our best, not only best effort, but best execution, and go and put our best foot forward when it matters most now,” Madsen said.