Cougars lose 52-45 to Okanogan in state semis

SPOKANE – Warden’s state championship hopes came to an end Friday evening at the Spokane Arena, falling 52-45 to Okanogan in the 2B Girls State Basketball Tournament semifinals. 

The No. 2 seed Cougars led the No. 3 Bulldogs 26-14 midway through the second quarter, but a 17-3 Okanogan run from the middle of the second to the beginning of the third quarter erased the deficit.

“They changed up a couple things defensively, and we didn’t adjust very well to finish out the half,” Warden Head Coach Josh Madsen said. “I thought we came out in the third quarter and were kind of flat – looked tired and played tired. Got sloppy, really stagnant and predictable.”

Nineteen Cougar turnovers led to 20 Okanogan points in Friday’s semifinal game. Okanogan outscored Warden 20-8 in the third quarter.

“We just couldn’t get out of our own way,” Madsen said. “We were tired, so then it was just turnovers and fastbreaks. A number of fouls, and we couldn’t get on track offensively. It just kind of snowballed on us.”

Despite the Bulldogs controlling the lead for most of the second half, Warden kept the game within two possessions down the stretch of the fourth quarter; a key moment came with a minute-and-a-half left on the clock when the Cougars had three shots to either take the lead or tie the game at 47, but couldn’t convert.

“We needed one more ball to drop,” Madsen said. “We got a couple of really good looks from three – down two – and they didn’t go. Sometimes, that’s basketball. If one of those falls, it might be a different story, but they didn’t, and we didn’t make the plays when we had to make them.”

Okanogan ate up as much of the shot clock as they could during the final two minutes of the game, hoping to keep its lead while limiting the amount of time the Cougars had to attempt a comeback.

“What we’ve been doing really well in our two games here is taking care of the ball, being patient on offense and making Warden come and get us,” Okanogan Head Coach Bryan Boesel said. “When you can take 24, 25 seconds off the shot clock, you’re putting Warden in a bind because they don’t have enough time to convert some points.”

With the loss, Warden will play No. 6 Adna in the third/fifth-place game Saturday at 11:15 a.m. The Pirates lost 57-33 to No. 1 Napavine Friday night in the semifinals.

“No choice but to move forward and keep fighting,” Madsen said.

Box Score

OKAN: 10-13-20-9 52
WARD: 13-16-8-8 45