While the leading scorer for Wawasee girls basketball changes nearly every night, there has been one constant for the Lady Warriors in the early season: winning.
Wawasee did what it does best Thursday night at the Hardwood Teepee, defeating Elkhart Christian 51-18 for their sixth win in a row and eighth in nine tries.
The Lady Warriors began the game with a nightmare start, turning the ball over four times on the team’s first four possessions. Wawasee seemed a bit out of sorts in the game’s opening minutes, with passes sailing too high or skipping too low and finding their way out of bounds.
Luckily for the home side, the Lady Warrior defense was up to the task and was able to keep the visitors from taking advantage of the miscues. After the disastrous beginning of the game, Elkhart Christian was only up 2-0. The defense would not slow down from there. After the Lady Eagles began the contest by scoring their first field goal in the opening minute, ECA did not make its next shot until three minutes to go in the first half.

    Junior Molly Beer of Wawasee dribbles to the lane during Thursday night's home game against Elkhart Christian. Photo by Gary Nieter

Eventually, Wawasee was able to right the ship, thanks in large part to an excellent first quarter by junior forward Ava Couture. Couture was everywhere for her team in the opening eight minutes, filling up the stat sheet with two points, three rebounds and two steals.
It wasn’t long until Wawasee was able to jump out in front, where the team would stay for the rest of the contest. The Lady Warriors led 11-3 after the first quarter, and the advantage could have been even larger had the team converted on more of its free throw attempts.
The home side exploded in the second quarter, turning its stout defense into easy offense throughout the period. Fellow junior Mackenzie Hackleman took the torch from Couture in the second, becoming a menace on both sides of the court. Hackleman was able to use relentless pressure to come up with multiple steals in the back court before turning them into easy layups. The guard also had no problem getting her offense going from deep as well, hitting two threes in the quarter.
Lydia Stookey also was able to find some offensive rhythm in the second, scoring three points to help play a part in the Lady Warriors growing their lead up to 20 as the two sides headed into their respective locker rooms for halftime pep talks.
Elkhart Christian began the second half with a little more urgency on offense, matching their first half point total in the first three minutes of the third quarter. The spurt didn’t do much in terms of closing the gap though, as Wawasee continued to move the ball well and convert on their open looks.
Much to the delight of the crowd and her teammates, Molly Beer made an impact off the bench in the third, scoring six straight points as the lead crept closer to 30. With less than a minute to go in the quarter, the Lady Warriors were up 40-10 and began the process of getting the reserves more involved.
The drama-free fourth quarter went by rather quickly, with players from both sides participating in some free-flowing offense. Senior Kylie Perkins got in on the fun here, scoring four of her six points in the final period of the game.
In total, seven different Wawasee players got onto the scoreboard in this one, led by 16 points and seven steals from Hackleman. Stookey finished with eight points. Olivia Horn scored seven points, while Couture, Beer and Perkins all had six. Couture had a team-high seven rebounds.
Wawasee (8-1) will play a huge game at home on Tuesday against Northridge, the Lady Warriors’ second Northern Lakes Conference game this season.