Warden boys finally getting their chance to play in the SunDome
WARDEN — The wait is finally over. The No. 7 Warden Cougars (17-7) will finally make their debut at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Wes Richins never did get the chance to play in the SunDome as a player, but he will become the first Cougar coach to take a boys team to the 1A state Hardwood Classic when Warden faces No. 10 King’s Way Christian (16-10) from Vancouver in the 5:30 p.m. loser-out game on Wednesday.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence now, having played with some of the best teams in the state. I think we surprised ourselves and that was one of the things we took away from the Lynden Christian loss is that the guys knew they could have won if a couple of things were different.”
It will be the Cougars’ first trip to the SunDome and they’ll be playing against a program that has been there for the past three seasons.
“I don’t think we’ll get tight, like we’re not supposed to be there, because we’ve proven to ourselves that we do belong,” Richins said. “I want to make sure there won’t be any surprises. So I’ve talked to them where we’ll sit in the Dome, where our dressing rooms are, how we warm up. We’ll try and have our meal around noon. We’re going to enjoy this moment together and be ready to fight together.”
Senior J.R. Delgado set the school 3-point shooting record with 82 baskets from downtown and goes into the contest averaging 24.3 per game. Senior Adam Richins has 50 3-pointers, averaging 15.6. Tanner Skone adds nine a night and Martin Arriaga is giving them 10 points coming off the bench.
“We have to get Tanner Skone going. He did an awesome job against Lynden Christian with four blocks and eight rebounds. He was 2-of-2 from 3-point range,” Richins said. “I think King’s Way will have a hard time matching up with him. Another key to the game is having some of the kids coming off the bench step up on the boards and scoring to free J.R. and Adam up to do what they do.
“If we get that, we’ll be in good shape.”
King’s Way Christian was fifth last season. They have pretty good size with four seniors Matt Garrison (6-5, 200), Karson Jones (6-6, 160), Skyler Freeman (6-3, 205) and Kolby Kimball (6-2, 220).
But they tend to score by committee rather than one or two dominant scorers, Richins said.
“Their guys have a lot of experience. Skyler Freeman is averaging 16 a game and they have a couple of other guys averaging 12,” Richins said. “They have some good shooters. They like that man-to-man, in-your-face style. So we’ll see if they can stop J.R. and Adam.”
The Cougars have fair size on the blocks with Delgado (6-3), Skone (6-4) and Adam Richins (6-1), so they can run the half-court offense. But where they are most effective is on the fly where they can push the ball up the floor or pull up and knock down the 3-point shots.
There’s a first time for everything and the Warden Cougars will take it all in on what they hope will be a long line of firsts at the 2017 1A Hardwood Classic.