Cougar comeback bid falls short

RICHLAND — Despite coming back from a 17-point second-half deficit, the No. 2 seed Warden Cougars were unable to take over the No. 7 Brewster lead in Friday’s 2B Girls State Basketball Tournament regional matchup, falling to the Bears 68-63.

“I thought we had a good week of practice, thought we had a good plan,” Warden head coach Josh Madsen said. “Ultimately, we didn’t execute it at times as well as I thought we could have. (Brewster) hit some big shots, and we just didn’t respond.”

After jumping out to an early 7-0 lead, the Bears fought back to tie the game at 7 in less than a minute of game time; from then, the two squads traded the lead five times until Brewster ended the half on an 8-1 run, holding a 31-22 lead at the break.

“We were rattled offensively, and had no flow,” Madsen said. “Had some good looks, couldn’t make them. Defensively, gave up 31 points in the first half — did not think that was a recipe for success.”

Brewster extended its lead to 39-22 early in the third quarter, but Warden junior Lauren Chamberlain scored baskets on back-to-back possessions and got the Cougar offense moving. 

“It shouldn’t take that, but it does,” Madsen said. “We didn’t make any shots in the first half hardly, and you could see girls were kind of flustered. Then we make a couple shots, and all of a sudden we start flying around.”

Slowly but surely, the Cougars began to come back; their defensive pressure forced errant passes by the Bears, which in collaboration with three third-quarter three-pointers by freshman Makenna Klitzke, allowed Warden to pull within five points of Brewster by the start of the fourth quarter. 

“We just started playing — we did it last week too,” Madsen said. “Just got out of our own heads, and we finally played; loosened up and just played. Play free, and good things happen. We play tight, and get all up in our heads and start turning it over.”

Warden tied the game at 51 midway through the fourth quarter, but turnovers proved costly when it came to retaking the lead. Warden remained within two possessions for the remainder of the game, but couldn’t overcome key shots by the Bears down the stretch.

“Every time we got right there, they hit a tough shot,” Madsen said. “Credit (Brewster), they made some really tough shots. That’s what good teams do. They stepped up, and we didn’t.”

Klitzke led the Cougars with 34 points Friday night, 24 of which came in the second half. The freshman scored 15 of Warden’s 21 fourth-quarter points.

“She wasn’t phased — she was unbelievable tonight,” Madsen said. “She brought her A-game, and I’m so sorry for her that we didn’t have a whole lot of help for her, unfortunately. That was a really good performance for her on her part, and she just kept grinding and took what the defense gave her.”

With the loss, Warden will play No. 10 Davenport in the Round of 12 of the 2B Girls State Basketball Tournament at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Spokane Arena. The Gorillas defeated No. 15 Tri-Cities Prep in their regional game Friday night.

“We’re going to take a couple days off, and we’re going to find out what we’re made of mentally right now,” Madsen said. “We talked about that in the locker room; we haven’t been tested like this, so we’re going to find out how tough we are.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score

BREW: 14-17-16-21 68
WARD: 12-10-20-21 63

    Warden freshman Angelina Buck, in white, keeps her eye on the rim while attempting a lay-up in the first quarter against Brewster.
  

    Warden junior Lauren Chamberlain (32) looks for an open teammate in the first half against Brewster.
  

    Warden senior Lauryn Madsen (0) jumps up to grab the opening tipoff for Warden.