Warden rallies to finish eighth
YAKIMA — Trailing 28-20 at halftime of the consolation semi-final game at the 1A state tournament Friday, Warden coach Todd Kisler told his players they needed to take control in the third quarter if they wanted to win the game.
The team responded not by controlling the quarter, but by dominating it, outscoring Seattle Academy 15-0 over the eight minute stretch to take over the game and advance to Saturday's consolation finals with a 54-43 victory.
Warden, which was outrebounded 18-9 in the first half, turned the tables on Seattle Academy by beating the Cardinals on the glass and converting the boards into easy points.
"It seemed like our feet were nailed to the floor," Kisler said of his team's first half rebounding troubles. "(In the second half) we just emphasized moving our feet, controlling the rebounds and getting fast breaks."
Offensively, Ashton Stott got the Lady Cougars rolling with seven straight points to open the second half. Stott hit a 3-pointer 1:15 into the third quarter to cut the Seattle Academy lead to five.
With 3:57 in the third quarter, Stott got the rebound of her own missed shot and converted it into a basket that made the score 28-27. A pair of Britney Yamane free throws gave the Lady Cougars the lead with 2:23 left in the quarter.
Yamane's steal and coast-to-coast layup with 15 seconds remaining in the third extended the Warden lead. Yamane was fouled on the shot and sank the free throw to push the margin to 35-28.
With two seconds remaining in the quarter, Seattle Academy drew a foul and went to the line for a pair of shots. Just as they had failed to do for the previous 7:58, the Cardinals couldn't hit a shot, missing both free throws.
After shooting a remarkable 50 percent from the field in the first half, including 43 percent from 3-point range, Seattle Academy finished the quarter 0-15 from the field.
Unlike the Cardinals, Warden's shooting improved as the game progressed. After a slow start offensively in the first half, Warden began to hit their shots in the final 16 minutes of play.
"We came out on a pretty good pace, but missed some shots," Kisler said. "It just took us half a game to get rolling."
In the latter stages of the game, Warden's shooting from the free-throw line ended any chance of a Seattle Academy comeback. During the final 2:58 of the game, Warden made 13 of 14 free throws, including eight straight from Dana Bates.
"We've shot free throws well all year," said Kisler of his team's proficiency from the line. "When we left for state I told them free throws will win ball games."
Defensively, the Warden coach complimented the play of freshman Cassandra Kisler, who came off the bench to help energize the Lady Cougars' defense.
"She gave us a spark today defensively," Kisler noted. "She moved her feet and dove for loose balls."
With the win against Seattle Academy, the Lady Cougars secured a top eight finish and moved on to play league rival Columbia-Burbank for the fifth place trophy.
Warden jumped out an early 5-0 lead on Columbia and trailed 27-23 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Coyotes outscored Warden 15-5 to take a 42-28 lead into the fourth quarter. The Lady Cougars went on to lose the game 49-39 to finish in eighth place.
Bates finished the tournament averaging 17.5 points and 12 rebounds. Bates was the tournament's top rebounder and third-leading scorer.
Kacie McPartland shot 77 percent from the field in the state tournament, the top mark for players with at least 10 field-goal attempts.