Offense was on the menu in Syracuse Friday morning, as the Wawasee boys basketball team began its home tournament with a massive 62-40 win over Rochester at the Hardwood Teepee. The Warriors had it going shooting the ball all day long, shooting 56% from three and making 14 long-range buckets to run away with the tournament game.
The two sides wasted no time getting the crowd going for the morning contest, with each side beginning the game with some great offensive successes. The Warriors were led by Maddux Everingham, who used a pair of threes in the opening minutes to get his team on the board. For the Zebras, a balanced attack saw the visitors whipping the ball around the court to find open players. More times than not, Rochester would convert on its looks, and was able to jump out to an early advantage.
The three ball was a huge weapon for the Warriors in this one. Wawasee began the contest by shooting 58% from deep with seven makes in the first half, three coming from Maddux. Despite the junior scoring nine points in the first, the Zebras would hold onto a six-point lead after scoring 18 points in the opening period.
The lead wouldn't last long though, as the second quarter would be one dominated by the Warriors. Maddux continued to pour in the points, but this time around, was able to get some more help from his teammates. Sophomore Nolan Holzwart was huge in this quarter, scoring all eight of his first-half points in the second. The Warriors’ two Westons, Hoffert and DeLong, each got onto the scoreboard as well in a period controlled by Wawasee.

    Wawasee senior Weston DeLong makes a strong move to the basket during the second quarter of Friday morning's home game against Rochester. Photo by Gary Nieter
But the story continued to be Maddux, who fearlessly took any open look the defense gave him, hitting the shots more than not, racking up the points in the process. The junior would score 19 in the first 16 minutes of play, by far the most of any player on the court.
A big difference in the second was the defensive intensity of the Warriors, which helped the home side get back in front and extend its lead. Double teams that were just a tad late in the first were now on time. Shots at the rim were contested incredibly strongly with no fouls given. Wawasee was beginning to dominate the game on both ends, leading to the Warriors taking a 10-point lead into the half.
The threes continued to fall to begin the third quarter, as Hoffert hit his second of the game in the opening seconds. That would be the only field goal made by the home side in the first four minutes of the period, which allowed the Zebras to nearly cut the lead in half, cutting it from 13 to seven.
After the Warriors were able to get a second shot to fall, a put-back layup by Myles Everingham, Wawasee was able to right the ship a bit, and using the offense of Holzwart as well as the first points of the game from Darius Lewis, the Warriors were able to extend their lead to double figures once more.
Combined with some more timely defense, Wawasee got onto another roll in the final minutes of the third, going up by 15 as the fourth quarter began after Myles hit a long three in the final seconds of the third. After being held scoreless in the first half, Myles came up big in the third, scoring five.
He would more than double that total not long after, hitting two more threes in the first minute of the fourth to become the third Wawasee player to reach double figures at eleven. After another steal on the other end, Myles continued his torrid stretch hitting his third three of the quarter and fourth in two minutes of game time as the Warrior lead now sat at 22.
With about three minutes to go, the Zebras got back to the successes that saw the get out to that early lead in the first quarter, leading to Rochester chipping away and making the game a tad closer. In the long run, it wouldn’t matter much, as the Warriors remained up by double digits as the clock continued to approach zero.
Content with how the game had gone to this point, Wawasee spent its final few possessions moving the ball around the perimeter while draining out the clock, much to the delight of head coach Lou Lefevre, who spent the previous timeout demonstrating the movement he wanted from his players on the court.
The final minute saw both teams empty their benches, but not much scoring took place. Both teams seemed content to run out the clock and prepare for their second games of the day.
Maddux led the Warriors in scoring after his big second half with 19 points. Myles used his big spurt in the second half to finish with 17. Holzwart added 14 points and a team-high five rebounds. Hoffert rounded out the top four scorers with six.
After wrapping up their home tournament with the championship game on Friday night, Wawasee will begin 2024 with a home game against NorthWood as the team resumes Northern Lakes Conference play. The Warriors currently sit at 1-0 in the conference after defeating Warsaw a few weeks ago.