SYRACUSE - It took a total team-effort for the Wawasee girls basketball team to remain undefeated in Northern Lakes Conference play Saturday at home.
With sophomore KiLee Knafel and senior Jonna Wiggs each scoring 18 points, the Wawasee Lady Warriors (10-2, 3-0 NLC) also received support from seniors Amy Walker and Kalyn McDaniel in a 51-45 win over the NorthWood Lady Panthers (5-6, 0-3 NLC).Helping to hand the Lady Panthers their fifth-straight loss was Walker's seven points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, while McDaniel also had seven points, two assists, two steals and only one turnover from her point guard position.
"It makes things so much easier when others are doing that," Wawasee coach Kem Zolman said about getting contributions outside of Knafel and Wiggs.
Through the first half, it was the three-point shooting of Knafel and Wiggs that helped propel the Lady Warriors to a 30-20 lead, punctated with a Wiggs trey from right between the three-point arc and half-court line as time expired.
Of Wawasee's 30 first-half points, 18 come from three-pointers by the two, as each nailed three.
Wawasee built its lead to 35-22 in the third quarter, but NorthWood junior De'Yahnna Styles helped get her team back in the game with her quickness.
After building the lead to 13, Wawasee watched as the Lady Panthers closed the quarter on a 14-3 run, closing the gap to 38-36 going into the fourth quarter.
Following her five-point third quarter, Styles opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back steals which resulted in lay-ups, giving her team a 40-38 lead with 6:54 left in the game.
"Speed kills," Zolman said about Styles.
While NorthWood was capitalizing on quickness, Wawasee couldn't capitalize on the Lady Panthers' foul trouble, as NorthWood was whistled for 12 second-half fouls to the home team's two.
Getting into the bonus with six-and-a-half minutes remaining in the game, Wawasee connected on just three of its nine free throw opportunities.
Instead of using the free-throw line to win, the Lady Warriors used diversity down the stretch as four different girls combined to score 13 points, leading to the NLC victory.
"This is the first time I've seen some mental discipline," Zolman said. "They paid attention to some detail tonight. This was or last full week of practice until the season ends. Rebounding was a big point of emphasis and not committing so many turnovers."
Wawasee outrebounded the bigger NorthWood team 32-30 and committed just 11 turnovers.
After losing its lead in the fourth quarter, Wawasee could have faltered, but that's not what Zolman saw happen.
"The one thing I really like about our team, that's showing up every game, is that they are learning to stay together," he said. "If they stay together long enough, good things are going to happen. Every one of our games is going to be like this. It's just going to be a struggle at times, a wonder at times and that's just the way it's going to be. That's who we are."
On top of each girl scoring 18 points, Knafel also recorded seven rebounds, three assists and a steal, with Wiggs posting four rebounds, four assists and six steals in the win.
The Lady Warriors host Sectional 21 opponent Columbia City Tuesday.
