SYRACUSE — Junior Collin Ziebarth scored 20 of his season-high 26 points in the second half to help Wawasee top Plymouth 55-40 Friday, Jan. 20 in Northern Lakes Conference boys basketball at the Hardwood Teepee.

The Warriors (5-9, 1-3) beat the Pilgrims (5-9, 1-3) and snapped a 13-game NLC losing streak. The last conference victory came Jan. 22, 2021 against Plymouth.

Wawasee also stopped a four-game losing skid in 2022-23 while Plymouth lost for the fifth straight outing.

Ziebarth went 7-of-11 from the floor and canned all 11 of his free throws and Wawasee went 17-of-17 at the stripe.

“We needed it tonight,” said Warriors coach Jon Everingham of Ziebarth’s play. “Collin carried us tonight with his ability to get to the basket and make free throws.”

Injury kept junior Carson Smith out of the Warrior lineup. Sophomore Myles Everingham played just under 20 minutes but was not at full strength.

Ziebarth, who scored 27 points in a game while at Whitko, talked about Friday’s win.

“It was a very good game,” said Ziebarth. “The whole team played good. We held them to 16 points in the first half. That’s very good defensive play.”

Sophomore Maddux Everingham netted seven of his 12 points in the second half for the Warriors.

Plymouth’s Easton Strain (who averaged 10.9 points) did not play and leading scorer Davis Wray (16.2 coming into Friday) was held to four.

The Joel Grindle-coached Pilgrims were led offensively by Kadyn Ellerry (17 points) and Coby Walters (12).

Led by senior Collin Roberson (9), Ziebarth (6) and Maddux Everingham, Wawasee bested Plymouth 31-24 in rebounding.

The Warriors made 17-of-41 shots from the floor with four 3-pointers — two by Maddux Everingham and one each by Ziebarth and sophomore Weston Hoffert.

Wawasee took a 34-27 edge into the fourth quarter. Plymouth pulled to within 37-32 on a Walters 3-pointer at the 5:27 mark.

Hoffert’s trey at 3:25 and two free throws by Ziebarth at 3:10 gave the Warriors a 42-32 lead and the spread never dipped below double digits the rest of the way.

Wawasee led 21-16 at halftime.

The Warriors held a seven-point advantage twice during the second period — the last time at 21-14.

The differential in the first quarter never got higher than four points. Wawasee led 11-8 at the close of the opening stanza.

Plymouth made 14-of-43 field goal attempts, including 2-of-17 behind the arc. Walters made both 3-pointers for the Pilgrims.

In the junior varsity game, Wawasee beat Plymouth 50-34.

Leading scorers for the JV Warriors (5-9) were Kane Dukes (11), Weston DeLong (11), Brayden Miller (8), Bradyn Pike (8) and Quentin Taylor (5). Pacing the JV Pilgrims (7-7) were Trenton Van Duyne (11), Ryan Tremaine (9) and Dan Nguyen (6).

Wawasee visits Bethany Christian Tuesday, Jan. 24 and Plymouth goes to Northridge Friday, Jan. 27.