YAKIMA — The Cougars made it a game late against Freeman, but were unable to overtake the Scotties in the end, falling 47-40 in their first game of the 1A Girls Hardwood Classic in Yakima.

Freeman jumped out ahead in the first quarter, scoring the first five points of the game. Jlynn Rios got the lid off the basket for Warden’s first points as both sides struggled to find the bottom of the net.

The game went into the second quarter tied at 9-9.

The Scotties caught fire in the second quarter, pulling ahead by double digits over the Cougars. A 3-pointer at the buzzer pulled Warden within nine at the break, 26-17.

Warden shot just 20 percent from the floor in the first half, 1-10 from deep.

The Cougars managed to finally capitalize on their forced turnovers, clawing their way back, basket by basket.

Warden trailed by four going into the final eight minutes, 35-31.

Warden kept its momentum early in the fourth, finally tying the game at 36-36 with 4:20 left to play.

The Cougars took their first lead moments later at 38-36.

Freeman responded in the final minutes, cinching up the defense on the Cougars. The Scotties managed to knock down their free throws in the final seconds to hold on for the win.

The Cougars managed 20 points off turnovers to just four for Freeman. Shot percentage and rebounding were ultimately the downfall for Warden. The Cougars shot just over 25 percent for the game and were out -rebounded 50-33.

Rylee McKay led the Cougars with 13 points, adding six rebounds, three blocks and a pair of assists. Kiana Rios finished with nine points, seven rebounds and four steals. Jlynn Rios finished with seven.

Warden head coach Josh Madsen said he felt his team was ready to play coming in, but didn’t know how they’d respond to a new stage the majority hadn’t experienced before.

“We were just a little bit disjointed the whole game,” Madsen said. “We settled down a bit late third, early fourth, but then just let it go again, fell apart at the end.”

Madsen has said all season that they don’t focus on working on the offensive end much, trusting that the Cougars will get things going on that end as they have all season so far.

The Warden head coach said they just weren’t moving the ball as well as they usually do, leading to forced bad shots on a lot of possessions.

Now, Madsen said the Cougars must regroup going into their next game tomorrow.

“We gotta learn from it and not mope and pout, learn from it and come back hungry,” he said. “We still have a chance to bring home some hardware and really put our stamp on this season and finish strong.”

The Cougars will face Zillah at 2 p.m. tomorrow afternoon in Yakima.

Union 56, Moses Lake 51

TACOMA — A game-tying 3-pointer was off the mark and Moses Lake lost to Union in the state quarterfinals 56-51.

“The free throw line killed us,” head coach Matt Strophy said.

The Chiefs finished a ghastly 9 of 19 from the charity stripe. The game was about as even as it could be with Union leading by two after three quarters.

Despite the even quarters, Moses Lake was often forced to put together lengthy runs to dig out of deficits.

“I think they had the upper hand a lot,” Strophy said.

Anna Olson scored a team-high 12 points and Meagan Karstetter had 10 points. Moses Lake struggled from the floor, shooting 33.3 percent and 25 percent from distance.

Moses Lake will face Issaquah today, 10:30 a.m., at the Tacoma Dome in the consolation bracket.

Boys basketball

Odessa 42, Almira/Coulee-Hartline 39

SPOKANE — Almira/Coulee-Hartline was unable to upset top-ranked Odessa, 42-39.

The Tigers had the game firmly in control entering the fourth quarter before the Warriors drilled five 3-pointers to draw within one point late.

Dane Isaak missed a game-tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

Ryan Moffet scored 17 points and made two free throws at the end of the game to push Odessa’s lead back to three points.

Chase Gerard led the Warriors with 17 points.

Odessa will meet Naselle in the state semifinals today, 3:45 p.m., at the Spokane Arena. ACH will play Muckleshoot Tribal in the consolation bracket at 9 a.m.