SPOKANE — No. 2 seed Warden closed out the 2023-24 season with a third-place trophy after defeating No. 6 Adna in Saturday’s 2B Girls State Basketball Tournament, overcoming a narrow halftime deficit to beat the Pirates 74-68.

“We dug deep, got a couple more stops when we had to, got a couple buckets when we had to,” Warden head coach Josh Madsen said. “Made our free throws. The whole game was not super pretty, it really wasn’t, but it was a typical Saturday morning at state, where you do whatever you’ve got to do to get a win.”

Down 32-30 at the break, Warden opened the third quarter with three-pointers by freshman Angelina Buck on two of the first three Cougar possessions, with the two squads trading the lead before the Cougars took a 51-47 lead into the final frame.

“We had a lot of (first-half) turnovers, so we just tried to minimize that and make every possession count,” Warden senior Aliza Leinweber said. 

Buck’s strong shooting streak continued into the fourth quarter, scoring 13 of the 23 Cougar points in the quarter.

“Makenna and Lauryn were being triangle-and-two’d, and I was like, ‘I need to step up because no one else is going to do that,’” Buck said. 

Adna cut the Cougar lead to one point with about two minutes left on the clock, but a 7-0 Warden run combined with a stout defensive effort put the game out of reach for the Pirates, with Warden winning 74-68.

“We changed up our defense a little bit, focused on a few girls mainly, and tried to take care of the ball and push it up the court as fast as we could to get those open shots,” Warden senior Lauryn Madsen said. 

Freshman Makenna Klitzke scored 10 of Warden’s 21 third-quarter points, including back-to-back baskets late in the period to give the Cougars some separation before the fourth quarter. Josh gave credit to Klitzke and Buck for their second-half performances.

“They stepped up big time,” Josh said. “It was super cool to see them take over. (Adna) put a lot of effort and focus on stopping Lauryn, and even at times Makenna as well, but Makenna kept battling. Angie (Buck) was a stud in the second half, and I’m so proud of her.”

Fifteen of Buck’s team-high 21 points came from behind the three-point line; following Buck’s 21 points was Klitzke with 18 points, Laurynwith 14 points, junior Lauren Chamberlain with 11 points and Leinweber and senior Molly Sackmann’s five points.

“It’s such a great feeling to end on something like that, because this whole tournament I scored four points a game,” Buck said. 

Warden played in the semifinals less than 24 hours ahead of Saturday’s third/fifth-place win over Adna, falling 52-45 to No. 3 Okanogan.

“We leaned on one another, and we knew what we came here to do — that’s where our mind was,” Leinweber said. “We flushed it, and said ‘If we can’t get that first place, then let’s get what we can and get third.’”

With the win, this is the third straight season that the Cougars finish with a top-three placing at the 2B Girls State Basketball Tournament; Warden won a state title in 2022 and took third a year ago.

“This is the same situation we were in last year — third place is still an amazing trophy, and we wanted to bring that home,” Lauryn said. “We just had to go out there and play like we know how, and give it our all.”

The Cougars will graduate four players from this year’s roster; Lauryn, Leinweber, Sackmann and senior Carina Martinez.

“They came into a program that was getting on its feet and starting to taste success, and they helped get it to a whole new level,” Josh said. “Now, they’re leaving it in a really good place.”

Back in January, Lauryn became Warden’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing the previous mark of 1,574, which was held by 2022 graduate Kiana Rios.

“This ride has been better than I could have even imagined,” Lauryn said. “Playing with these girls for all my life, it really means a lot to go out there and finish with a win, and bring home third place.”

Of the eight non-seniors on Warden’s roster, six of them were underclassmen this season.

“I hope they are hungry for more, that you can never settle at ‘Oh, I’m good enough,’” Josh said. “That’s not an option — you’ve got to be ready for more, ready to fight and continue to get better.”

The returning Warden players are already looking to match the leadership this year’s senior class possessed.

“I just hope we can step up and be leaders like how Lauryn, Aliza, Molly and Carina were leaders to us,” Buck said. 

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score

ADNA: 18-14-15-21 68
WARD: 18-12-21-23 74

    Warden senior Molly Sackmann (20) lays the ball in for a basket in the second quarter against Adna.
  

    Warden freshman Angelina Buck, left in the foreground, led the Cougars with 21 points in their win over Adna Saturday. Buck connected on five-of-seven second-half three-pointers.
  

    Warden senior Aliza Leinweber, left, attempts a three-pointer in the second quarter against Adna.
  

    Warden senior Lauryn Madsen, left, looks for an open teammate in the third quarter against Adna.