Following a tough two-point loss in their opening game of the 2016 Hardwood Classic, the Edmonds-Woodway Warriors got back to playing winning basketball on Friday.

Behind the 19 points of senior Mady Burdett, the Warriors rebounded from their opening-day loss and defeated the Lincoln Abes 50-42 in a consolation round game of the WIAA 3A Girls Basketball Tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

With the victory, E-W will play one more game in Tacoma, a 9:30 a.m. match-up with the Mt. Spokane Wildcats on Saturday. The winner will claim the state tournament’s fourth-place trophy.

Friday’s win came less than 24 hours after the Warriors fell to Kamiakin 56-54, a game that Coach Rebekah Wells said her squad could have won.

Getting past the emotional loss Thursday was easier for some than others — specifically herself — Wells admitted. “I think it was harder for me than it was for the girls,” she said. “Last night you have those random moments when you’re like, ‘oh, we almost had that one.’ But the girls, (Thursday) after the game, they were like, ‘Hey, I’m going to go look at the shirts.'”

“They were frustrated, but they didn’t let it bother them the rest of the day,” Wells continued. “When you know that happened, you know they’re ready to play the next game.”

The Warriors hit the court running on Friday, building up a 19-9 lead over the Abes by the end of the first quarter. Burdett produced most of the E-W early offense, connecting on a trey of 3-point shots and scoring 11 of her 19 points in that first quarter.

Burdett admitted the team may have been a bit overwhelmed by playing under the bright lights of the state tournament on Thursday, but got refocused for their match-up against Lincoln.

“(Thursday) we were just kind of nervous and I think it showed a lot in the first half of the game,” Burdett said. “But we really just came out here to play basketball. We didn’t want to settle. It’s exciting to be here, but we wanted to win.”

Down by 10 points, Lincoln didn’t give in to the Warriors’ quick start. The Abes opened the second quarter with a 13-0 run and took a 22-19 lead with 3:54 to go before halftime.

Edmonds-Woodway scored just four points in the second quarter, but survived the eight minutes and were tied with the Abes 23-23 at the break.

“They changed up their defense – they went to a zone – and sometimes we hesitate a little bit and we weren’t taking the best shots,” Wells said of the Warriors’ poor second quarter.

But Edmonds-Woodway put together a solid third quarter, outscoring the Abes 14-7 and taking control of the remainder of the game.

Lincoln got to within six points of the Warriors at 46-40 with 1:45 to go in the game, but four free throws by Burdett and teammate Missy Peterson in the final minute kept the Abes at bay and secured the win for E-W.

Peterson contributed 12 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had three steals in the Warrior victory. Lincoln was led in scoring by the 12 points of Morticia McCall.

A defeat to the Abes on Friday would have eliminated E-W from any additional play at the Tacoma Dome this weekend, a prospect that Burdett and her teammates wouldn’t even consider.

“We don’t want to go home; we didn’t want this to be our last game,” Burdett said after the win over Lincoln.

The Warriors won’t be going home quite yet; and when they do on Saturday, they will be bringing a trophy with them — either fourth-place hardware with a win over Mt. Spokane, or a sixth place trophy if they happen to lose.

To view Saturday’s slate of games at the 3A Girls State Basketball Tournament, and the entire bracket, click www.wiaa.com/brackets/T1217.pdf.

Prep Girls Basketball: Edmonds-Woodway vs. Lincoln, March 4, WIAA 3A Girls State Basketball Tournament consolation round game

E-W 19 4 14 13 — 50
Lincoln 9 14 7 12 — 42

Edmonds-Woodway scoring: Mady Burdett 19, Missy Peterson 12, Maddie Tudor 9, Adrienne Poling 6, Marivel Ortega 2, Courtney Simpson 2, Ally Burdett, Elie Shull

Lincoln scoring: Morticia McCall 12, Tamia Braggs 8, Faith Brantley 5, Kondalia Montgomery 5,Victoria Mukisa 5, Aamira Turner 4, Nashontae Frazier 3, Shawndreia Brown, Azallee Johnson, Sa’Naya MacAfee, Essence Waller

Records: Edmonds-Woodway 17-11; Lincoln 24-3

Edmonds-Woodway next game: versus Mt. Spokane, Saturday, March 5, 9:30 a.m. at the Tacoma Dome (WIAA 3A Girls State Tournament 4th/6th place game)

— By Doug Petrowski