Cougars’ Gutierrez scores 1,000th point in season opener

WARDEN – With a 1,000th point scored during the game, and despite a late comeback effort, Warden was unable to overcome a nearly 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s season-opening basketball game against Naches Valley, falling 74-62 to the Rangers. 

“I think we ran out of a little gas, and that was it,” head coach Brent Erdmann said. “Those backdoor cuts killed us.” 

The Cougars trailed 59-40 entering the final frame of Thursday’s game but quickly made it an eight-point game with a steal and lay-up in transition by senior Anthony Gutierrez to make the score 64-56.  

“We picked up the pace. We came out slow (to start the game), I think we could have played a little better defense,” Gutierrez said. 

Both teams traded baskets to keep the difference at eight, but turnovers plagued the Cougars in the final minutes. Naches Valley frequently scored on second-chance points, outrebounding Warden throughout the game. 

“If you go and make contact, then you can still be in the right position to get rebounds – I don’t care how big you are,” Erdmann said. “These young men are going to have to realize that; we are small, go make that contact first.” 

Warden was missing two players in its frontcourt Thursday, with junior Hunter Golladay and senior Jake Roylance – listed at 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-6, respectively – not on the floor. Without Golladay and Roylance, the Cougars were forced to play small ball most of the night. 

“It’s Warden, it’s what we do – we're going to be scrappy,” Erdmann said. “We haven’t had a lot of height here in the recent years – some over the years, but not a lot – but these guys know how to play and how to play bigger than they are.” 

Naches Valley led 18-6 after the first quarter and 37-27 at halftime. A slow start on the offensive end for Warden, especially in the first quarter, allowed the Rangers to steadily build their lead. 

“I think we struggled because we were playing slower than we needed to,” Erdmann said. “We need to play fast, make it a possession game – a lot of possessions, so we need to be running and doing those things. We were kind of settling and moving around, and couldn’t finish lay-ins.” 

Erdmann said the Cougars will focus on cleaning up mistakes on the defensive end. 

“They moved pretty well, the ball moved okay – we've got a lot of things to work on, there were way too many things we gave up on the defensive side,” Erdmann said.  

Gutierrez reaches 1,000 

Gutierrez came into Thursday’s game with 992 career points; in front of a packed gymnasium at Warden High School, he became the fourth official Warden boys basketball player to hit the millennium mark according to Erdmann. 

“I think that’s a big deal, it really is,” Erdmann said. “He’s the fourth in history at Warden, on record. To get 1,000 points, that’s hard – it's a lot of work, it’s a lot of time, it’s a lot of effort.” 

The Warden senior’s first four points came from free throws, later scoring a basket to put him two points shy of 1,000. After a Naches Valley technical foul, Gutierrez was sent to the free throw line in hopes to put two points on the board in favor of the Cougars.  

He hit the first one, then took a moment before shooting the second. 

“I’m shooting that last free throw, and in my head I’m thinking, ‘Ah, I better make this!’” Gutierrez said. “I let the ball go, and as soon as it left my fingers I knew it was going in.” 

After converting on the free throw attempt, Guiterrez was honored at halfcourt during a timeout called by the Cougars, where he received a commemorative basketball from Dan Caballero, a former Warden player who scored 1,000 points during his high school career. 

“I was very nervous coming in – I'm used to scoring, but the jitters and everything, I was super nervous coming in,” Gutierrez said. “But, we got it through, we got the buckets, and after that we started playing pretty well.” 

Gutierrez led the Cougars with 35 points. 

“Shoutout to my teammates for getting me here, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without them,” Gutierrez said. “I just wanted to say thank you to everybody.” 

Box Score 

NCV: 18-19-22-15 74
WRD: 6-21-13-22 62 

    Warden senior Elijah Ruiz (1) looks for a teammate to pass the ball to during Thursday’s game against Naches Valley.
  

    Warden junior Eli Cox, in white, drives past a Naches Valley defender during the second half of Thursday’s game against the Rangers. Cox scored 14 points in the game.