Warden Cougar boys beat Soap Lake and Waterville

WARDEN - Ty  Jesse, Victor Flores and Trent Bates pumped in 10 points each to lead the Warden boys basketball team to a  56-45 win over Soap Lake Friday. Conrad Ruge added nine, Garritt Marks had eight,

Jeremy Brown tallied four and Nate Cole finished with three to round out the scoring for the Cougars.

Jason Korneychuk led the way for the Eagles with 14 points and Anthony King added 12 in the losing effort.

"After a sloppy first three quarters, were able to put away Soap Lake in the fourth," coach Wes Richins said. "We were getting out-hustled in the first half ... looked like we had jet-lag and we were the home team"

The game was nip and tuck throughout as the Cougars took a 19-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and was up 30-28 at the half.

But Warden out scored Soap Lake 26-16 in the second half of action to come away with a 56-45 win.

"We shot 10 of 13 from the foul line and was able to shut out Kornachuk in the second half and that was key for us," Richins said. "He is tough.  Give Soap Lake a lot of credit for their effort."

The win improves the Cougars to  2-0 in the 2B Central Washington standings and  4-5 overall.

The loss drops Soap Lake to 1-2 in league play and 4-6 overall.

Warden 62

Waterville 48

WATERVILLE  - The Cougars got off on the right foot in league action as the downed Waterville 62-48 Jan. 3. Warden trailed the Shockers 16-8 after the first quarter of action, but out scored Waterville 54-32 over the remaining 24 minutes of play to come away with the victory.

"Waterville started off hot scoring on their first four possessions and we struggled to find our rhythm,' Richins said. 'We pulled with two just before half, only to have Waterville hit a last second shot to pull back ahead by four at the intermission.'

The Cougars turned up the pressure in the third and went up by eight points only to have the Shockers Allen Zaney hit another last second shot at the buzzer to keep the game close 44-38.  But Warden hit 11 of 14 free throws down the stretch to secure the win.  Ty Jesse paced the Cougars with 12 points , six steals and five rebounds, Victor Flores had 14 points and five steals and Conrad Ruge finished with 11 points and four assists.

"We were real balanced tonight as far as scoring goes," Richins said.. "We have to give credit to Waterville. They came out hitting some big shots and really outplayed us in the first half. We were able to take some air out of the ball down the stretch and I feel our players played with good composure in a hostile environment."

Warden is back in action Friday when the tam hosts Riverside Christian at  7:30 p.m.