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 brought 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 Shoreline, 30-21, at the break.

Warden ballooned its 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 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, helping Warden pull 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.”

Josh Madsen said last week before the game against the Knights that their size would be a concern, and he knew they’d want to make their presence known in the post. The sixth-seed from the west side did exactly that, continuously attacking the paint Saturday afternoon.

The Warden head coach said he felt his team handled the 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.