CHESTERTON GIRLS 56, WARSAW 53

Warsaw dug itself a hole it couldn’t get out of in the semi-finals of the Lady Tiger Tournament.

The Lady Tigers opened the game on an 8-0 run, but were outscored 21-6 the rest of the first quarter, then were down 11 after Emma Pape came off the bench to hit a three at the halftime buzzer. Chesterton would hold a seven-point lead, 52-45, with 4:47 to go, before Warsaw made its final run. Audrey Grimm found Abby Sanner inside for two, then after Sanner got a steal, she found Grimm for a bucket to slice the Trojan lead to three.

Kaylee Patton found Grimm open on a back cut to tie the game at 53 with 2:15 to go, but a turnover and a missed three allowed Ashley Craycraft and Nakani Malackowski to hit 3-4 from the free throw line. A desperation three from Kacilyn Krebs hit side iron, ending Warsaw’s comeback attempt.

Kendall Wayne and Kensie Ryman combined to score 21 points for Warsaw, hitting five threes in the process. Wayne scored seven points in short order during a Warsaw run in the third, and Ryman hit bookend threes to open and close the third.

Sanner had nine points, six offensive and seven total rebounds, and three blocks. Brielle Harrison added nine points and six rebounds for the Lady Tigers.

Emma Schmidt led the Trojans with 19 points and five rebounds, with Malackowski finishing with 13 points and Craycraft at 12 points.

WARSAW GIRLS 53, PERRY MERIDIAN 26

Warsaw earned a split at its home tourney, taking it to Perry in the consolation game of the Lady Tiger Tournament.

After Perry started the game with a 16-14 lead after a quarter, Warsaw turned the tide quickly by allowing just four Falcon points in the next two quarters. After three quarters, Warsaw flipped the scoreboard into a 41-20 lead.

Warsaw won the rebounding battle 45-29, led by 13 caroms from Harrison to cap her double-double with 11 points, both team highs. Nine Tigers scored in the game, Sanner with nine points and Patton and Grimm both had eight points.

Sally Mortensen led the Falcons with eight points and five rebounds.

In the championship, Huntington North concluded its big day with a 43-27 win over Chesterton. North beat Perry 49-28 in the first game of the day in the Career Center Gym.

Warsaw won its tenth game of the season, returning to play again next Saturday at home against Northridge in a key Northern Lakes Conference matchup.

In the JV slate of games, Huntington North won the junior title in beating Perry and Warsaw. The Huntington-Warsaw game was the championship, won by North 33-30. Zoe Bergan led the Tigers with nine points and seven rebounds.

Warsaw won its first game in the JV slate by a 38-26 count over Chesterton. Bergan scored seven points and the duo of Hannah Hatfield and Marin Hart had eight points apiece.

NORTHWOOD GIRLS 51, FAIRFIELD 35

NorthWood made more free throws than Fairfield attempted in another Panther win Saturday afternoon at The Pit.

NorthWood made 20-27 free throw attempts, including 13-17 in the fourth quarter. Fairfield was fairly sharp in its attempts, hitting 14-17 in the game.

The Black Swish, which moves to 16-2 overall and winners of 12 in a row, had Maddy Payne lead the way with 17 points. Karlie Fielstra stepped forward with 12 points, hitting three from deep, and Alea Minnich added eight points.

NorthWood survived a three-point second quarter with 31 points in the second half, buoyed by a trio of threes from Fielstra and Minnich in the third quarter.

Brea Garber led Fairfield with 14 points and Bailey Willard had 12 points.

NorthWood won the JV game 29-15.

WAWASEE GIRLS 61, BREBEUF 19

Wawasee stopped a modest two-game skid by smothering Brebeuf in the morning session of the Brebuef Shootout.

The Lady Warriors held the Braves to just seven field goals in the contest and just one point in the fourth quarter.

Hannah Lancaster scored a season-high 13 points and added five steals to lead Wawasee. Jada Carter and Becca Smith each scored 11 points and combined for seven rebounds.

NORWELL GIRLS 68, WAWASEE 37

Wawasee settled for a split in its two games at the Brebeuf Shootout, falling to Norwell in the nightcap.

Norwell stormed out to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter and set the cruise control, adding 18 points in the second quarter. Maiah Shelton led the Knights with 19 points and Breann Barger tossed in 12 more in the victory.

Smith paced the Lady Warriors with eight points and four boards, and Carter and Kennedy White combined for 14 points and 12 rebounds.

LAKELAND GIRLS 65, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 56

Valley couldn’t keep up a sizzling start in an eventual loss in the morning session of the Concord Holiday Shootout.

Valley was on fire in the first quarter, taking a 25-12 lead on the Lakers, only to see the powder blues outscore the Vikes 19-9 in the second quarter to close the gap. Valley would be outscored 34-22 in the second half.

Jillian Walls led Valley with 20 points, followed by Sidney Wagner with 19 points and Kaydence Mellott with 10 points.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY GIRLS 69, WEST NOBLE 49

Valley came back to win its second game of the Concord Holiday Shootout, splitting with a pair of sectional rivals.

Against the Chargers, Valley had four players reach double figures in scoring, Wagner taking the lead with 18 points. Mellott finished with 17 points, Walls had 11 and Hayley Backus came through with 13 points. Emma Craig chipped in eight points, helping Valley to its 12th win of the season in 15 tries.

Valley’s JV earned two wins on the day at Concord, beating Lakeland 52-42 and West Noble 38-28. Rily Holloway scored a combined 37 points in the two games. Sadie Snapp had 12 points in the Lakeland win and Molly Moriarty had 12 points in the West Noble win.

Lakeland would win the Concord tourney by defeating the hosts, 54-47, winning its ninth game in its last 10 contests.

LAKELAND CHRISTIAN BOYS 48, GRANGER CHRISTIAN 42

LCA wrapped up its two-day adventure at the Cougar Classic with a fifth-place finish in a game played at Grace College.

Cameron Shepherd scored a career-high 26 points and tossed in seven rebounds and three steals to pace the victory. Peter Koller and Silas Gagnon each finished with seven points, Gagnon pulling down six boards. Bradyen Lane added seven assists and five rebounds.

Tommy Garcia led Granger with 13 points and Eli Smith pitched in 11 points in the loss.

MARIAN MEN 80, GRACE 73

Grace’s men’s basketball team suffered its first Crossroads League defeat of the season on Saturday.

The Lancers (11-4, 3-0 CL) lost 80-73 at No. 8 Marian despite a season-high 27 points by Charlie Warner.

The Knights (12-3, 3-1 CL) held the lead for the majority of the game, although the game was never out of reach.

Grace fell behind 18-11 midway into the first half, but the Lancers rallied with an 11-2 run. Haden Deaton scored four points during the run, and Jaret Sons hit a 3-pointer.

Marian slowly pulled back ahead, and a late 3-pointer put the Knights up 37-29 at halftime.

In the second half, the Knights remained in front for the full 20 minutes. But the Lancers refused to let Marian run away with the victory.

With 8:20 remaining in the game, Grace faced a 70-56 deficit. But a steady dose of Warner kept the Lancers inching closer.

Warner scored seven points over the next three minutes, and Myles Johnson added four more points to help Grace’s surge.

A layup from Warner sliced Marian’s lead down to 72-70 with four minutes on the clock. The Knights responded by scoring on three of their next four possessions, but Warner kept scoring to keep the game close.

The Lancers trailed by five with less than two minutes to play. But Grace had a turnover and missed its last three shot attempts to ruin any thoughts of a late rally.

Grace (46 percent) and Marian (47 percent) shot similarly from the floor, although the Knights hit 59 percent from beyond the arc (10 of 17).

The Lancers held a plus-7 edge in rebounding at 35-28, but the Knights had eight turnovers compared to 14 for Grace.

Warner produced 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Deaton scored 19 points with four rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor.

Johnson scored 11 points to go along with nine rebounds, and Sons added eight points and nine boards.

The Lancers continue on the road Wednesday with a pivotal road matchup. Grace plays at rival Bethel at 8 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the women’s teams.

MARIAN WOMEN 73, GRACE 69 (OT)

Grace’s women’s basketball team nearly added another ranked upset to its portfolio at No. 5 Marian on Saturday.

Grace produced a massive fourth-quarter rally before ultimately falling 73-69 in overtime.

The first half was a defensive clash. The teams combined to score just 19 points in the first quarter.

It took Grace nearly four minutes to get on the scoreboard. Kamryn Hostetler hit a jumper over three minutes into the contest for Grace’s first points.

The Knights (14-2, 3-1 Crossroads League) were almost as cold offensively; Grace held Marian without a point for the final 4:33 of the quarter. But Marian still led 12-7 after one period.

Marian built its lead up to 12 midway into the second quarter, but a timely 8-0 run for Grace gave the visitors a jolt.

Vironnica Drake scored four points during the run, and Maddie Ryman and Brooke Treadway also scored to trim the gap to four.

Drake tried to give Grace more momentum at the end of the half, racing down the court and hitting a layup in the final second. But Drake’s basket was waved off due to an offensive foul call, and Grace had to settle for a 29-23 deficit at halftime.

The Lady Lancers (11-5, 2-2 CL) shot just 30 percent from the floor and did not make any of their six 3-point tries.

Drake was a lone bright spot offensively with 11 points. But she was the only player for Grace to score more than three points.

Marian maintained its cushion in the second half; the Knights seemed poised to pull away with a 12-point lead with 5:39 remaining.

But Grace had other thoughts. The Lady Lancers scored 13 unanswered points in a furious rally. Kyannah Stull hit a pair of 3-pointers during that run, and Drake scored the other seven.

Drake’s last layup in traffic put Grace ahead 60-59 with 2:05 to play.

The teams traded points down the stretch, including a clutch triple from Ryman. Grace had a chance to take the lead in the final minute, but a layup from Treadway misfired.

Treadway would find redemption, however. After Marian scored to take the lead, Treadway was fouled in the paint just before time expired. Treadway calmly sank both free throws to send the game to overtime at 66-66.

Grace’s offensive struggles carried into overtime, however. The Lady Lancers were held scoreless for almost the entire period.

Marian opened the scoring early in OT with a jumper, but neither team scored again until the final 30 seconds.

The Knights hit a 3-point dagger with 13 seconds to play. Stull countered with a triple of her own to cut the gap to two with five seconds on the clock, but Marian ended the game with two more free throws.

Grace shot 34 percent for the game compared to 41 percent for Marian. The Lady Lancers did force Marian into 22 turnovers but that produced just six fastbreak points.

Stull and Drake tied for team honors with 21 points. Stull shot 5-of-9 from the 3-point line, adding five rebounds. Drake pulled down six boards.

Ryman finished with nine points and two steals, Hostetler had eight points and five assists, Warble notched six points and eight boards, and Treadway added 4 points, 4 steals and a team-high 12 rebounds.

The Lady Lancers remain on the road on Wednesday with a doubleheader at rival Bethel. The women tip off at 6 p.m., followed by the men’s game.