SYRACUSE — Senior Peyton Felger and junior Carson Smith exceeded their previous season-high point totals to aid Wawasee in victory.

Starter Felger and sixth-man Smith netted 14 points apiece and sophomore Maddux Everingham tallied 16 (eight in the fourth quarter) despite dealing with illness as the Warriors beat shorthanded Whitko 61-37 Saturday, Dec. 10 in non-conference boys basketball at the Hardwood Teepee.

Maddux Everingham, who had limited practice Friday and was not feeling well early Saturday, was in the starting lineup and played just over 23 minutes — less than his customary amount.

Junior Collin Ziebarth deal with foul trouble and logged just over 21 minutes.  

“Role players stepped up and picked up slack,” said Warriors coach Jon Everingham. “Those are things that are going to make us better down the stretch. We aren’t relying on three guys.”

Said senior Peyton Felger, “With (Maddux) being out some of us other players stepped up big.

“That was probably my best (game).”

Felger scored eight of his 14 in the fourth quarter Smith 12 of his 14 in the second half.

Senior Collin Roberson scored eight points and sophomore Myles Everingham seven for Wawasee.

The Warriors committed eight turnovers — seven in the second half. The Wildcats lost the ball 14 times.

Whitko did not use a substitute until the game’s final minute. Sickness kept seniors Brent Bowers and David Ousley out of what is usually a seven-man rotation.

“I’m proud of our guys,” said Wildcats coach Chris Benedict. “For 25 or 26 minutes we played pretty solid.”

Wawasee improved to 2-3 and Whitko slipped to 1-4.

Junior Kyler Krull (16 points — 11 in the second half) and sophomores Riley Harman (11 — nine in the first half) and Easton Grable (5 — all after intermission) paced the Wildcats attack.

The 6-foot-6 Krull and sophomore point guard Jaylen Gibson played all 32 minutes.

When Myles Everingham was in the game he guarded Krull (Felger had that chore when Everingham when to the bench).

“Krull’s a tough match-up,” said Jon Everingham of the inside-outside threat. “Myles did a pretty good job on him all night.”

The Warriors led 16-8, 29-18 and 39-29 at the first three quarter breaks.

Wawasee only trailed once at 3-2. Its biggest lead in the first quarter was 11 points at 16-5. The hosts were ahead by as much as 14 in the second period at 22-8.

The Wildcats pulled to within 31-24 but were down 39-26 in the third quarter.

The closest Whitko got in the fourth quarter was nine points (42-33). Wawasee’s biggest lead of the night was 26 (61-35).

Of the Warriors’ 29 rebounds, Roberson (9) and Felger (7) led the way. Whitko pulled down 18 — five each by Harman and junior Logan Hoffman.

Each team made five 3-pointers — Maddux Everingham three with Myles Everingham and Smith canning one for Wawasee. Harman made three with Krull and Grable knocking down one each for the Wildcats.

For all floor shots, the Warriors made 26-of-48 and Whitko 13-of-35.

Through five games, Wawasee’s scoring leaders are Maddux Everingham (16.4), Ziebarth (13.0), Myles Everingham (12.2), Roberson (6.6), Felger (4.6) and Smith (4.2).

Top norms for the Warriors are Krull (14.8), Bowers (7.5), Harman (6.8) and Gibson (3.8).

In the junior varsity contest, Wawasee beat Whitko 41-23. The hosts outscored the guests 15-4 in the third period.

Leading scorers were Kane Dukes (14 points), Dallas Miller (7), Weston Hoffert (5) and Brayden Miller (5) for the winning JV Warriors (2-3) and Isaac Irvin (8) for the JV Wildcats (1-4).

Next up: Whitko at Prairie Heights Wednesday, Dec. 14; Warsaw at Wawasee Friday, Dec. 16.