Wawasee’s Ethan Hardy goes up for two during a game earlier this season. Wawasee won its fourth straight game Saturday. (File photo by James Costello)

WAWASEE 39, LAKELAND 25
Wawasee earned its fourth straight win with a strong defensive effort in a win over visiting Sectional 21 foe Lakeland Saturday.

The Warriors scored at just a 17-of-46 (37.5 percent) clip from the field but held the Lakers to 8-of-42 (19 percent) for the game. Austin Miller put up 18 points on 8-of-19 shooting with two steals, Keaton Dukes scored seven with six rebounds, and Ethan Hardy finished with six points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Kameron Salazar passed out four assists with two steals.

Brayden Bontrager scored eight points with 10 rebounds and blocked two shots for Lakeland, which dropped to 6-9.

Wawasee’s JV also won Saturday’s contest, 50-21.

Caden Welty scored 18, and Landon Gause and Collin Roberson put up 12 points apiece for the JV Warriors, who knocked down 63 percent of their field goals in the first half and 46 percent for the game.

Saturday’s win followed a 61-40 Northern Lakes Conference victory over Concord at the Hardwood Teepee Friday night.

The Warriors held the Minutemen under 36 percent from the floor in that game while scoring at a nearly 54-percent clip of their own. Miller and Jack Stover put up 16 apiece, and Hardy tallied a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds in that win, which pushed Wawasee to 2-3 in the conference.

Zaven Koltookian put up 16 points for Concord, which slipped to 1-11 overall and 0-5 in conference play.

Wawasee’s JV beat Concord by a 39-30 margin, meanwhile.

The varsity Warriors moved to 11-5 and will resume play at NLC foe Northridge Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

TIPPECANOE VALLEY 57, WINAMAC 49
The Vikings recovered from a tough, Friday night with a road win at Winamac Saturday.

Valley had a very balanced scoring effort, surrendered only four turnovers and won the rebounding war 29-28 in the win. Dawson Perkins scored 16 points with 11 rebounds, while Paul Leasure scored 10 points, Nolan Cumberland finished with nine, Rex Kirchenstien had eight, Braden Shepherd added seven, and Tanner Trippiedi scored another seven points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. The Vikings scored on 7-of-9 (77.7 percent) of their field goal attempts during a 20-13 fourth quarter after leading just 37-36 going into the final frame.

Will Larkin went a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line en route to 25 points to pace the Warriors. Shaydon May scored eight for Winamac, which slid to 7-10.

Valley’s JV won an exciting, 41-36. Chase Miller hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in the win. Brendyn Stump led the way with 25 points. Chase Miller added six, and Cooper Walls and Landon Walters scored four each.

Saturday’s win came on the heels of a heartbreaking, 71-66 double-overtime loss to Three Rivers Conference opponent Manchester Friday.

Cumberland scored 21 points, Perkins put up 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Trippiedi scored 13 points and passed out eight assists in that loss. The Vikings gave up 18 offensive rebounds to the Squires. The JV also lost to Manchester, 32-28.

Valley’s varsity moves to 7-9 and 2-4 in the TRC. The Vikings travel to Wabash on Thursday night for a 7:45 p.m. tip.

ELKHART CENTRAL 58, WARSAW 57
Despite being down 17 in the third quarter, Warsaw rallied to cut the Blue Blazer lead to two in the fourth, but a late Tiger rally fell short a second straight night versus Central Saturday.

Luke Adamiec again led the Tigers again with 17 points and four rebounds, and Brock Poe added 15 points for the home team, which converted at a 20-of-43 (46.5 percent) field goal rate after being held to around 31 percent in a Northern Lakes Conference loss at NorthWood Friday night. Wyatt Amiss and Bishop Walters pulled down five rebounds each, while Keagan Larsh grabbed four for Warsaw, which won the battle of the boards by a dominant 32-16 margin. The Tigers managed to convert 18 offensive caroms into 18 second-chance points as well.

Donovan Johnson led all scorers with 21 points, while Cam’Ron Daniels scored 15 with two assist and four steals, and Isaiah Chandler scored 14 points. That trio combined to go 20-of-35 (57 percent) from the field, and the Blazers went 53.5 percent from the floor for the night. Central thus snaps a three-game skid and improves to 6-8 with the win over its Sectional 4 rival.

Warsaw’s JV earned a lopsided, 62-38 win against its Central counterpart Saturday. The JV Tigers used a 20-7 second period to take control. Judah Simfukwe put up 21 points with two assists, and Jaxson Gould scored 17 points with two steals for Warsaw. Kyle Dawson finished with seven points and nine rebounds, and Daylan Vermilyer tallied eight rebounds.

The JV Blazers got 15 points from Jesse Davidson and another 13 from Jerry Hodges.

Saturday’s loss drops the varsity Tigers’ record to 10-5 on the season. They’ll travel to Elkhart Memorial for an NLC contest Thursday at 7:45 p.m.

NORTH JUDSON-SAN PIERRE 64, TRITON 54 (OT)
Triton’s boys suffered their second Hoosier North Athletic Conference loss of the season to the visiting Bluejays at home at the Trojan Trench Saturday.

The Trojans were tied up with Judson at 52-all at the end of regulation but managed to score just two points — and none from the field — in the extra period, falling short of a third-straight win. The Jays went 2-of-2 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the free throw line in the decisive frame.

Ashton Oviedo scored 14 points with four assists to lead Triton, while Tyson Yates put up 11 points with four rebounds and three assists for the home team. Hunter McIntyre scored eight for the Trojans.

But Cooper Hochstedler poured on 24 points — scoring at an 8-of-13 clip from the floor and 6-for-8 rate from the line — alongside 13 rebounds and three assists for the visitors. Blayne Wilcox put up 17 points with five rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Payton Cox scored 10 points with two steals for the Jays, who moved to 4-1 in the HNAC and 8-7 overall.

Triton out-rebounded Judson 31-25 but scored only nine second-chance points off of 11 offensive rebounds. The Trojans turned the ball over 13 times for 17 points off turnovers by the Bluejays.

Triton won the JV contest, 38-20. Connor Large put up 14 points with four rebounds and two assists. Cole McKinney scored seven points with four assists for the JV Trojans. Eric Materna paced Judson in the opener with eight points.

Triton’s varsity dips to 8-6 and 2-2 in the HNAC. They’ll host Argos Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

HUNTINGTON 74, No. 18 GRACE 69
Grace’s men’s basketball team could not complete a massive comeback at Huntingtonon Saturday.

The Lancers trailed by 19 points with 13 minutes to play in the game. But No. 18 Grace charged back, slicing the lead down to four before running out of time.

Grace endured one of its lowest offensive outputs of the Crossroads League season, shooting 34 percent for the game.

The Lancers (15-9, 7-5 Crossroads League) particularly struggled in the first half. Grace missed all 14 of its 3-point shots before halftime and shot 24 percent overall in the period.

To start the game, Grace’s offense seemed to be clicking at a normal rhythm. The Lancers were tied 12-12 with the Foresters (11-13, 3-9 CL) after nine minutes of play.

But Grace missed its next seven field goals over the following five minutes, and Huntington surged ahead 29-14.

The Lancers ended the half by missing six of their final seven field goals and went into halftime behind 40-22. Huntington shot 48 percent in the half, double the shooting percentage of Grace (24 percent).

Seven minutes into the second half, the Foresters still commanded a comfortable 54-35 advantage.

Grace refused to end the game without a fight, starting with a quick 9-0 run to put pressure on the home team.

A hoop from Myles Johnson cut HU’s edge to single digits at 61-52 with 5:20 remaining, and Matt Jennings scored on the next possession to trim the lead to seven.

Jennings scored five points in the final minute to bring Grace within four. Huntington then missed the front-end of a bonus free throw, but the Foresters got their own rebound and hit free throws to end the contest.

Haden Deaton led all players with 27 points, adding six boards and two assists, and Jennings added 19 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.

Johnson had 12 points, 7 boards, 2 blocks and 2 steals, and Jaret Sons chipped in 8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

The Lancers return to Winona Lake next week for two games. Grace hosts Taylor on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Bethel for a doubleheader on Feb. 8.

WAWASEE C-TEAM 26, WEST NOBLE 12

Noah LaTour led the charge for Wawasee in the big win over West Noble Saturday morning, scoring 11 points. Brendan Freeman and Josiah Boyer combined for nine points for Wawasee.

“Good fight in a comeback game,” stated Wawasee head coach Andrew Wilson. “We had some guys step up and we played as a team. Great team defense allowed one point in the second half.”

LAKEVIEW 8TH GRADE WINS NELMSC TOURNEY

Lakeview stood tall Saturday after winning the Northeast Lakes Middle School Conference tournament.

Lakeview topped Wawasee 42-30 behind Julian Saldivar’s 15 points and eight assists, and 12 points and 12 rebounds from Andrew Potter. In the championship, Lakeview toppled crosstown mates Edgewood 29-22. Saldivar led the team with nine points and four assists, Potter chipped in six points and eight rebounds, and Quentin Maas and Matthew Mulligan had four points each.

LAKEVIEW ALSO GRABS 7TH GRADE TITLE

A 36-30 win over Plymouth in the semi-finals set up a 40-35 Lakeview championship title run over Edgewood in the seventh grade NELMSC tournament.

Lucas Bricker led Lakeview in the semis with 15 points. In the finals, Bricker finished with 12 points, three rebounds and two steals. Kellan Bailey added 13 points and 10 rebounds.