DUNLAP - It was a conference opener and the atmosphere was electric.

"It was a tough environment to play in, but it's Indiana high school basketball, " said Wawasee coach Matt Carpenter after his Warriors lost  47-41 in a back-and-forth Northern Lakes Conference girls basketball contest at McCuen Gym. "Our girls look forward to that challenge."

Ensuring it would be loud and hard for either team to talk to each other was the host Minutemen's 140-member pep band.

"They do a fabulous job," said Concord coach of the musicians. "We call the The Sixth Man here and we're fortunate to have them."

Aliyah Hershberger (14 points - nine in the first half), Ashlyn Fish (12 - nine in the second half) and Bailei Mayo (10 with four free throws in the fourth quarter) led Minutemen scorers.

Lindsay Doss (14 points - all before halftime), Kennedy White (13 with eight in the second half) and Jada Carter (8 - all in the second half) guided Wawasee's attack.

"I relied a lot on our seniors to be able to communicate to each other," said Carpenter.

Concord (3-1, 1-0) trailed 39-37 on a Carter 3-pointer with 5:40 to go. Moments later, the Minutemen took back the lead and held on to best Wawasee (4-2, 0-1).

"It's a pretty simple game when you are able to get (defensive) stops," said Carpenter. "We can turn that into transition offense and get out in the open floor and we definitely score at a higher clip.

"When things were going well we were mixing in those fastbreak points."

The Minutemen limited those chances and outscored the visitors 27-18 in second half.

"We preach about toughness," said Cepeda of Concord's ability to finish strong. "We responded after a brutal loss to Elkhart. That wasn't who we are and our personality."

Nine of Wawasee's 19 turnovers came in the second half.

"We turned the ball over way too many times," said Carpenter. "We got in a little too big a hurry at times in the half court."

Many of the Warriors' interior tries were effected by Concord's Kendal Taylor.

"Give a lot of credit to a 6-foot-2 post person," said Carpenter.

Eleven of Concord's 19 giveaways were in the final two quarters.

The Warriors were up 23-20 at halftime.

A 9-2 Concord run brought the hosts within 21-20 with 1:45 left in the second quarter.

Wawasee took a 15-7 lead into the second period. After Concord assumed a 5-2 advantage in the first 90 seconds, the Warriors enjoyed the eight-point lead at the end of the quarter.

Both teams took 11 floor shots in the first period with Wawasee making six and the Minutemen two.

In the junior varsity game, Abbi Burelison (11 points), Mackenzie Hackleman (11) and Kylie Perkins (9) led Wawasse to a 31-17 win against Concord, which was paced by Mareiona Mason (8).

Concord goes to South BendRiley (JV at 1 p.m.) and Triton visits Wawasee (JV at 6 p.m.) Saturday, Nov. 20.