Kisler named Warden interim coach

Third coach for the girls' basketball team in a year

WARDEN - The Warden girls basketball team has a new, temporary sheriff in town.

Assistant coach Todd Kisler was named the interim head coach for the Cougars for the remainder of the season, Kisler said.

The move came after current head coach Robert Macintosh was put on administrative leave following an arrest by the Moses Lake Police Department Thursday evening, Kisler added. Macintosh was hired during the summer, but was arrested on a warrant issued by the Superior Court of Washington on Dec. 22, 2004 for alleged indecent liberties.

Kisler becomes the third coach in less than a year for the Warden basketball team.

Last year, Tiffany Darling left the Cougars to take an assistant coaching job at Saint Martin's College after coaching Warden to its first district title and then into the playoffs. Following her absence, the Warden School District hired Macintosh for the head coach position in the summer of 2004 and coached the Cougars until his arrest Thursday.

At a team meeting yesterday, Kisler said he addressed the team about the new change.

"I had a talk with them tonight," Kisler said. "From last year and this year, they know what direction this team is going."

Kisler said Warden is still in position to finish second in the SCAC East behind league favorite Columbia-Burbank, who beat the Cougars Saturday in Kisler's first game as head coach.

Kisler said the Cougars are trying to put the loss of Macintosh behind them for now and focus on a strong finish on the season. He said there won't be any changes to the way the team is coached, except that he will use both coaching philosophies of Darling and Macintosh while head coach.

"What I am going to do so there is no mix-up is use a little of both and stay in the middle," Kisler said.