Cougars defend home court, beat Spartans 61-50

WARDEN — The Warden Cougars (6-5) snapped a three-game rut by defeating the Granger Spartans 61-50 on Friday. Head coach Brent Erdmann said his players fought hard to get back in the win column.  

“They've been battling all year. Any win is a good win for us right now. We had a pretty rough run for a little bit, to actually come back and get a (win) for these guys, we'll take it,” Erdmann said.  

The Warden offense got rolling early, finding inside shots and playing tight defense to jump out to a 17-8 lead in the first quarter. However, Granger battled back in the second to cut the deficit to 30-22 at halftime. Throughout the second half, the Cougars maintained a steady lead. Granger cut the deficit to five points at one point. However, Warden kicked it into another gear in the fourth quarter to outscore Granger 18-15 to secure the win.  

“It's because of the transition, our defense picked up and we were getting out. We said, ‘Nope, let's go and run and let's get ahead of them.’ That's really what I thought was working,” Erdmann said.  

In the first quarter, the Cougars were efficiently getting stops on defense and finding success inside on offense. This helped them build a 12-6 lead over Granger. JJ Madsen got open for a three-pointer to extend their lead to 15-8 minutes later.  

Warden carried their momentum into the second quarter as they controlled the court on both ends. Jaxsen Erickson drove inside for a layup and successfully laid it in while drawing a foul. The Cougars maintained a steady lead throughout the second, until Granger went on a scoring run in the final minutes to cut the deficit to 28-22.  

Warden put up one more bucket, and Erickson blocked a buzzer-beater shot to finish the first half strong. Erdmann was complimentary of his players' efforts in finding scores inside the paint.  

“Cameron Jensen and Hunter Golladay just absolutely brought it. We thought that would be something we could use tonight, because they do work so hard. All the credits got to go to those two guys because of that effort, and then the guards did a good job finding them when they needed to,” Erdmann said.  

It was a back-and-forth battle in the third quarter. While the Cougars continued to dominate the paint, Granger began finding success on offense. Both teams put up 13 points.  

In the fourth quarter, the Cougars found the sixth gear and began to separate themselves on the scoreboard. Warden utilized ball movement on offense to find open shots and scoring lanes to extend their lead to double digits at 45-35.  

While Granger still found success on offense, Warden took control of the game as they drew fouls to get to the free-throw line on several occasions. Eli Cox also intercepted a pass and laid it in the basket at the other end, increasing their lead to 53-37.  

Granger caught a little momentum after knocking down a few three pointers, including one that drew a foul to help them cut the score to 56-50 with 1:45 left. However, the Cougars held on by putting up a couple of more scores and milking the clock to secure the win.  

The Cougars returned to the court on Saturday to face Mabton on the road. Results for that game were not available at the time of press. As they look ahead, Erdmann and the Cougs are optimistic about where they stand in league competition.  

“It's big for us because it just keeps us in the running for the league. There's a lot of good teams in this league, so just to having them get that confidence in the win, I think it's a big deal,” Erdmann said.  

BOX SCORE:  

GRNG: 8-14-13-15: 50
WRDN: 17-13-13-18: 61 

    Daniel Gonzalez (31) applies pressure on defense against a Granger player. The Cougars forced several steals and made stops on defense in transition which helped them in their win Friday.