Lady Cougars: State champs!
The Warden High School Lady Cougars are the 2021-2022 WIAA 2B girls state basketball champions. After an amazing run up to state with only one loss the entire season, the Warden girls hoopers gave it their all on the court and brought home an impressive win.
Rebecca Pettingill/Columbia Basin Herald
From left to right, seniors Kiana Rios, Rylee McKay and Jaryn Madsen celebrate their win and state title on March 5. Madsen was the top scorer in the championship game.
Warden High School senior Jaryn Madsen (5) attempts a three-point shot during the state championship game of the WIAA state 2B girls tournament on March 5.
Warden High School senior Kiana Rios (32) drives past a Colfax player during the state championship game of the WIAA state 2B girls tournament on March 5.
SPOKANE - The Warden High School Lady Cougars finished the business they had at the state tournament this weekend with a state championship trophy.
After three long days at the Spokane Arena, the Lady Cougars were finally in the championship game. Warden would battle Colfax for the glory of being named the WIAA 2B girls state champions and win 70-55.
“We’ve been on a mission this whole season and the girls followed through with what we said we wanted to do,’” said Warden head coach Josh Madsen. “We never shied away from it, we never backed down, we said we wanted a state title, we wanted a gold ball, we went and got it.”
When the game started, Colfax got possession from the jump and was able to score right away. Warden did not get on the board until 6:48 left in the quarter by a three-pointer by junior Quinn Erdmann to tie the two teams at three-all. The two teams battled back and forth for the lead over the next three minutes but were tied at 11-all with three minutes left on the clock. Colfax was able to gain the lead at the very end of the quarter, 16-14.
Second quarter, Warden surged ahead and had their highest-scoring quarter of the game with 24 points while holding Colfax to only nine. Like the Lady Cougars have seemed to do all season, they found their groove, sunk baskets and put pressure on their opponents which resulted in their lead of 38-25 at the half.
Third quarter, Warden stepped back and focused on keeping the lead and added another 17 points to the board.
As their coach has been saying all season, the girls had unfinished business and they clearly intended to finish it and finish it strong. They never held back on Colfax, shooting, driving and pressing.
Fourth quarter, the Lady Cougars were ahead 55-38. As they pushed on they kept their lead as Colfax got more desperate to catch up. With a couple minutes left in the game, coach Madsen substituted in all his reserves that had gotten little or no playing time yet in the game. As the players subbed out, many returning to the bench became emotional as the final seconds of their last game of the season ticked away.
Warden won 70-55 in the championship game over Colfax, bringing home the championship trophy with a nearly perfect season record of 26-1.
“(These) girls are as tough as nails,” said Madsen.
Some interesting stats from the game for the Lady Cougars:
Made 13 of 15 total free throws
Senior Jaryn Madsen led the team with 19 points
Senior Kiana Rios had 15 rebounds
The largest lead Warden held was 20 points in the second quarter
Box Score:
Warden - 14 24 17 15 - 70
Colfax - 16 9 13 17 - 55
Pick up a copy of Monday’s Columbia Basin Herald for a full breakdown of the Lady Cougars’ run at state with additional photos.
