SYRACUSE - Time was certainly on Wawasee's side against East Noble Friday.

In a slow-moving turn of events, the Warriors' Hannah Rensberger grabbed an airball from Lydia Carpenter and converted the layup as the clock dwindled down to give Wawasee a thrilling 53-51 overtime win over the previously unbeaten Knights.

The time was officially four seconds on the clock, but East Noble fans could swear it was longer, the result of a slower trigger finger on the timer. Nevertheless, it was certainly an exciting finish.

"We were trying to get it into Lydia," Wawasee coach Randy Aalbregtse said. "We got it inbounds, and all I know is I saw Lydia shoot it. Then Hannah put it in, and I hadn't heard the buzzer yet. What an excellent finish for us."

With the scored knotted at 51 apiece, the ball came inbounds to Carpenter, who fumbled the ball beyond the three-point arc. She turned and shot a fadeaway jumper, which came up short and to the right of the basket. Rensberger jumped to grab the ball and without coming down to the court, put the ball back into the basket and was mobbed by her teammates.

"The kids just kept fighting," Aalbregtse said. "East Noble is an excellent basketball team. It was one heck of a war."

Realistically, Wawasee probably should have never been in that situation in the first place. East Noble battled back from a 36-28 deficit to take a 40-38 lead with 2:24 on the clock. East Noble led 42-40 before two free throws from Wawasee's Kari Wortinger sent the game into overtime tied at 42.

In the extra session, the Warriors led 51-48 with 20 seconds left when East Noble's Summer LaCross got a three-point play to tie the score at 51.

With 16 seconds left, Wawasee called a timeout. Both teams then traded turnovers as the clock went to :04 and East Noble called a timeout, setting the stage for Rensberger's heroics.

It was a struggle for Wawasee to hold onto the basket, as well as the lead, as the Warriors turned the ball over eight times in the third quarter and nine more in the fourth.

"We are struggling with taking care of the basketball," Aalbregtse said. "We get too excited. Both teams were exhausted and running on whatever they had left. We stopped moving to the ball. At times, I was wondering how either team got the ball up to the basket, they were so exhausted."

East Noble led 16-7 midway in the second quarter when Aalbregtse had seen enough and called a timeout. The Warriors came out of the timeout and scored the next eight points and eventually had a 22-3 run on the Knights for a 29-19 third quarter lead.

"We went out of the zone and went man-to-man," Aalbregtse said of the run. "Kari Wortinger hit a three, we got some steals, and we got the momentum back. We did the same thing in the third quarter, but we let it get away. Our turnovers killed us."

Kristi Dukes got a layup and two free throws to cut the lead to 29-23, but picked up her fourth foul minutes later. Dukes, who had 12 points in the game, would foul out early in the fourth quarter.

"Dukes is a very fine player," Aalbregtse said. "When she got into foul trouble, it was a benefit to us. But their kids are young, and they are going to be great."

Wawasee kicked the ball around 31 times, but East Noble couldn't take advantage because it was in the midst of shooting 20 of 71 (27 percent) from the field.

Wortinger led the Warriors with 14 points, while Carpenter added 11 points and 10 boards. Rensberger added eight points and 10 boards.

Wawasee (2-2) is at West Noble Tuesday. [[In-content Ad]]