WARDEN — Warden girls basketball remained perfect on the season, picking up a dominant win over visiting Kiona-Benton, 80-15.

The Cougars were a force to reckoned with on both ends of the court from the tip in the first quarter. As a team, they finished with eight steals and a block with Jlynn Rios picking up four of those steals. Warden held the Bears to just four points as they pulled way out in front going into the second quarter at 29-4.

Warden kept it going in the second quarter, fueled in part by Quinn Erdmann who nailed four consecutive 3-pointers in the quarter, finishing the first half with 17 points. Kiana Rios stuffed the stat sheet in the second quarter as well with five rebounds and four assists.

The Cougars took a 53-7 edge into the second half. The offense turned down a notch in the second half, but the defense remained aggressive holding the Bears to single digits in both halves of the game.

Erdmann, a freshman, led the Cougars in scoring with 20 points after picking up the start, chipping in three assists and a rebound. Both Kiana and Jlynn Rios stuffed the stat sheet for Warden. Kiana finished with 15 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and three steals. Jlynn finished with eight points, four assists, and a team-high five steals.

Jaryn Madsen finished in double figures as well with 12 points, three assists and two steals. Brecka Erdmann picked up six assists and two blocks off the bench.

Warden head coach Josh Madsen said, right now, he’s just working to keep his team sharp with the season in the grind. Madsen said they’ve worked to mix things up to try and keep an edge and admitted, even when you’re winning, the season can be very long.

“We’re trying to keep our eyes ahead of us, taking a game at a time, but also knowing we’re trying to get to a place too,” Madsen said. “So we’re constantly trying to tighten things up, trying to improve all the time, understanding that we want to win now, but we want to win when it really matters, come districts, come playoffs and on.”

Josh Madsen said they continue to feel confident the offense will take care of itself, keeping their emphasis on the defensive side of the ball where the Cougars forced 19 steals against Ki-Be.

The Warden coach said his team has rallied around this notion.

“That’s kind of fun when the girls are buying in on that side of the ball too,” Josh Madsen said.

Quinn Erdmann has picked up a few starts recently for the Cougars and is a player Josh Madsen said is working hard and he wanted to make sure was rewarded.

“Basically every other team in the league she’d be starting,”he said. “We wanted to make sure she’s staying engaged and sometimes when she’s coming off that bench she’s a little bit more complacent. It was nice to see her, tonight, getting the start and coming out and being a little more aggressive offensively.” With so much talent on the roster, Josh Madsen said as a coach it can be fun, but it’s a balancing act as well. While some teams have one or two players who that can focus around, He said his players must adjust to sometimes taking a backseat.

“OK, Quinn was hot tonight, OK, well we’re gonna have to give her the ball a little bit more,” Josh Madsen said. “For the most part, I think our girls understand that. They’ve played together long enough. They know, OK, this girl can go off.”

The Warden coach said his players enjoy the rotating hot hand, encouraging each other when it’s their night.