Cougars take down King’s, 61-45, secure first-round bye
CASEY MCCARTHY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 8 months AGO
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Jaryn Madsen fires up the shot after splitting the King’s defenders in the first half of the Cougars’ win on Saturday.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Five Cougars surround the King’s player to force the turnover in the first half at Big Bend CC on Saturday.
Senior Brecka Erdmann lays in the shot under the basket after splitting the defense in the first half of the Cougars’ 61-45 victory.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Warden freshman Quinn Erdmann drives in for the layup in the first half of the 61-45 win for the Cougars.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Senior Brecka Erdmann cuts to the hole in the second half for Warden against King’s on Saturday afternoon.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Jlynn Rios leads the pack after a defensive takeway in the second half of Warden’s win on Saturday afternoon at Big Bend Community College.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Freshman guard Jlynn Rios provided an early spark for the Cougars as Warden went on to defeat King’s, 61-45.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Sophomore Rylee McKay powers up the shot from down low in the second half of the Cougars’ game against King’s on Saturday.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Warden’s Jaryn Madsen gets set for the rebound as she watches Brecka Erdmann’s floater in the second half on Saturday.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Sophomore Kiana Rios drives up the floor after a Warden takeaway on the other end during the first half of Saturday’s game at Big Bend.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Jlynn Rios drives in between a pair of King’s players in the first half of the Cougars’ win on Saturday.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Brecka Erdmann fires up the shot in the paint for Warden in the first half of the 61-45 win over King’s.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald The Warden Cougars starting five gets set for their game against King’s on Saturday afternoon at Big Bend Community College.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald SCAC East Player of the Year Kiana Rios of Warden muscles her way past the King’s defender on her way to the bucket on Saturday afternoon at Big Bend.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald Sophomore Jaryn Madsen poured in eight of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter of Warden’s 61-45 win on Saturday.
MOSES LAKE — Warden rebounded from its first loss of the season with a dominant win over King’s on Saturday afternoon, 61-45.
Both sides fought nerves in a chaotic start to the game. King’s stayed right with, or just ahead of Warden early in the first quarter. Rylee McKay and Jlynn Rios sparked the Cougars in the first quarter, combining for 15 points to help Warden take a 19-12 advantage into the second.
Rios and McKay combined for six of the Cougars’ 12 rebounds in the first quarter against a King’s squad that brings a pair of players over six feet down low. The Cougars have none.
The Cougars continued to have a strong presence on the boards in the second quarter, helping to build their lead up to nine heading into the half. Warden led the visitors from Seattle, 30-21, at the break.
Warden ballooned their lead out to as much as 16 in the third quarter before King’s inched back after a stretch of sloppy play by the Cougars. The lead was remained at nine heading into the fourth, at 43-34.
Jaryn Madsen came out cooking on offense in the fourth, pouring in eight of her team-high 15 points in the final eight minutes. Jlynn and Kiana Rios combined for eight as well as Warden pulled away with the 16-point victory.
Madsen led the Cougars with 15 points, adding three rebounds, a block and an assist. McKay nabbed the double-double down low with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Jlynn Rios finished with 14 points, adding six rebounds, two steals and two assists. SCAC East Player of the Year Kiana Rios finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.
Warden head coach Josh Madsen liked the way his team closed out the game in strong fashion after a rough stretch in the third quarter.
“We got sloppy with it on offense and stopped defending, we started taking breaks,” Josh Madsen said. “That was tough, but we regrouped.”
Madsen said last week before the game against King’s that their size would be a concern, and he knew they’d want to make their presence known in the post. The six-seed from the west side did exactly that, continuously attacking the paint Saturday afternoon.
The Warden head coach said he felt his team handled their opposition’s size well. “I think we bothered them more than they bothered us,” Josh Madsen said. “It was good to see we didn’t back down at all.”
Josh Madsen was very pleased with the efforts of his sophomore McKay down low.
“Rylee did a great job today, especially in the first half,” he said. “She was just super active, different times of the game and different parts of the flow. And that’s what’s really cool is we have different girls that can do some things.”
Being a team that doesn’t have to rely, or focus, on one player, Josh Madsen said, is what he likes so much about his group heading to Yakima this week.
“We feel like different girls are going to step up at different times,” he said. “That’s exactly what happened today.”
The Cougars will be off until Thursday where they will face the winner of Wednesday’s battle between fourth-seeded Freeman and No. 12 Elma.
Josh Madsen said the Cougars will look to balance just enjoying the ride from here on out, while also trying to bring home some hardware.
“This is going to be a brand-new experience for all but one of these girls, hopefully they don’t freeze up under the big lights,” he said. “But this group, they just like being together, they just like playing. It’s not always pretty, but they’ll always get after it, and, a lot of times, good things happen because of that.”
Tipoff for the 1A Hardwood Classic opener for the Cougars is at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday at the Yakima SunDome.
