SYRACUSE – Playing without its leading scorer, Wawasee’s boys basketball team never cracked the Plymouth defensive code in a 38-29 Northern Lakes Conference loss Friday at the Hardwood Tepee. Senior center Trevon Coleman was in a shirt and tie on the bench for the Warriors after suffering a leg injury against Elkhart Memorial last week, leaving them short-handed on both ends of the floor. Wawasee managed a first-quarter lead, but held the ball for long stretches trying to find a good shot. “To be honest, we had trouble executing the game plan,” Wawasee head coach Jon Everingham said. “We spent a week practicing with a 15-second shot clock, and really trying to push the pace offensively. I need to do a better job of getting those guys to take it from practice in to the game situation. “We kind of froze a little bit early on, and we were content with passing the ball around instead of trying to attack. That’s on me; I have to do a better job of coaching those guys to attack offensively.” Without Coleman, Plymouth packed its defense near the lane, forcing Wawasee to shoot long jumpers. “We struggle to score with (Coleman), so when you take your leading scorer out of the mix, that certainly makes it more difficult,” Everingham said. “But it was an opportunity for some guys to get some minutes, and really make a push to be that second or third scorer for us. Unfortunately for us, tonight that didn’t happen.” Still, Wawasee wasn’t without an opportunity to stop its losing streaks, now seven in a row this season, and 39 consecutive in conference play. The Warriors were seconds away from going into halftime down two, but Plymouth senior sharpshooter Nick Felke emerged from a scrum on the right side to swish a three-pointer just before the buzzer. Then the Pilgrims’ Benji Nixon hit a bucket as time expired in the third quarter to take the Plymouth lead to 10. Wawasee didn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way. The Warriors finished with six three-pointers, and held Plymouth to one field goal in the fourth quarter. But Wawasee hit just two shots inside the arc, and missed 8 of 15 free throws. “A lot of times there’s a fine line between winning and losing,” said Everingham. “Generally, it comes down to two, three or four plays, and we struggled from the line again, and we gave up end-of-quarter baskets. We have to clean that up.” Felke finished with a game-high 15 points for Plymouth. Cayden Wegener had eight points for Wawasee, with Jairus Boyer adding six and Tyler Smith and Cameron Schlabach five each. The junior varsity game went to Wawasee by a 32-19 score. Austin Miller had 11 points in the winning cause, while Bennett Hoffert added nine and Aaron Evans scored seven points for the Warriors. Wawasee (4-8, 0-4 NLC) plays a non-conference game at Bethany Christian (2-7) in Waterford Mills on Tuesday.
