Warden to rely on youth in return to SCAC East
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Warden guard Aubree Skone throws a pass during practice.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Warden guard Ashlyn Yamane (right) brings the ball up the court.
Connor Vanderweyst/Columbia Basin Herald Warden's Bailey Whitney (center) goes up for a shot during practice.
WARDEN — Turnovers — the mark of a young team that has not quite found its cohesiveness.
And Warden is young, with no seniors and just one junior on the roster.
In its four games, when the Cougars are able to take care of the ball the end result has been a win. When the youth shows and the ball criss-crosses the court, things do not fare as well.
Two big losses to Mabton and Cle Elum-Roslyn sandwiched wins over Highland and Kittitas in the non-league slate.
“We need to learn to play consistent,” head coach Dan Caballero said. “If we can control our turnovers and take care of the ball, we’re right there; we’re a pretty competitive team. If we let our youngness show then we struggle a little bit.”
Like the rest of Warden athletics, girls basketball returns to the Class 1A SCAC East after two years at Class 2B. Columbia (Burbank) — Warden’s opponent this Saturday — reached the state quarterfinals a season ago. More, the rest of the league boasts experience.
“It’s going to be tough because the SCAC — they have a lot of returners,” Caballero said. “We lost a pretty good group of seniors last year and everyone else is pretty junior, pretty senior-heavy teams and it’s not that I believe in the seniority aspect of it, but it’s more of them playing together for so long.
“So the experience is where we lack, they have playing at the 1A already and, like I said, returning girls that are hungry and competitive and want to win. We’re hoping that we can get to that level and compete and if we do I think we should be OK.”
Cassidy Turner is the lone upperclassmen for the Cougars. Ashlyn Yamane, Aubree Skone and Bailey Whitney highlight a strong sophomore group.
Whitney played big minutes in the post as a freshman; this season she has stepped out to the perimeter.
“Bailey’s one of those pretty versatile players,” Caballero said. “After talking to her, I said I see her more as coming in and being a guard-power forward type player and she is stepping up because she can take the game inside and she can also shoot outside. She’s got pretty good touch and pretty good hands.”
Whitney scored a season-high 19 points against Kittitas.
The challenge for Warden will be to manufacture enough scoring to complement Whitney; Caballero will rely on Skone, Yamane, Turner and Natalie Cole to add between six and 10 points per game.
“It’s going to be one of those things where Bailey’s not going to be able to go out and score 19 and us win if we don’t have the rest of the players scoring,” Caballero said. “We really have to be balance.”