Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman instructs his team during a timeout at Lakeland Tuesday night. The Lady Warriors rallied to beat the Lakers 51-31. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

LAGRANGE — For the second time in as many road trips, Wawasee throttled a Northeast Corner Conference team.

Friday night the Lady Warrior basketball team won its season opener in decisive fashion at Westview, and Tuesday night the ladies took to the road again in LaGrange and upended Lakeland, 51-31.

While the score suggests a night of ease for Wawasee, head coach Kem Zolman saw things a little differently, “I don’t care what the score is, when you can get a win in this gym it’s a big deal. This is the first long bus ride we have on the year and it makes it tough to play well here.”

That long commute may have been the reason for a less than impressive first half from Zolman’s squad. After ending the first quarter with a 10-9 lead, the Lady Warriors could not get much of an offense going in the second quarter. With 4:27 left in the half Lakeland’s Carlee Richardson gave her team its first lead of the night, 17-16. Richardson finished her night with seven points and one assist. Lakeland would head to the locker room with a 6-point 22-16 lead thanks in part to four second chance points and nine Wawasee turnovers.

The second half was a much different story, however. Wawasee came out of the locker room and played the style of basketball Lady Warrior fans are accustomed to watching, tough and physical. Senior KiLee Knafel jumpstarted her team by scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter. Knafel hit two three-pointers and went 4-4 from the line to give her team the lead. Wawasee opened the quarter with a 14-2 run and took a 37-26 lead into the fourth quarter.

Lakeland scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to cut Wawasee’s lead to nine and then forced Knafel to the bench for several minutes when she picked up her fourth foul. The young Lady Warrior lineup that remained on the court responded to the situation with great execution.

Wawasee’s Elizabeth Jackson works the ball around during a key portion of the second half.

In a key moment in this young season, Wawasee took control of the game from Lakeland in one possession. The Lady Warriors milked over a minute off the clock with fundamental passing that was cut short only when Elizabeth Jackson was fouled. Jackson hit two free throws to give her team an 11-point lead. Jackson finished the night with six points and two rebounds.

Following the game, Zolman emphasized the importance of that possession.

“This team has to learn how to play without KiLee,” Zolman said. “When we pulled her out after that fourth foul we started to move the ball really well on that one possession and that was the goal. I told the girls we did not need to score, we just needed to move the ball around and that’s what we did.”

Knafel would return late in the quarter and add four points giving her 19 points in the second half and 23 for the game. Wawasee closed the game outscoring Lakeland 35-9 in the second half while also forcing 18 turnovers in that time.

Kylee Rostochak added workmanlike numbers with six points, seven assists, five rebounds and five steals. Cassie Martinez tossed in eight points, three rebounds and three steals. Wawasee as a team were 17-20 from the free throw line.

Wawasee guard Cassie Martinez receives defensive pressure from Lakeland’s Carlee Richardson.

After the game Lakeland’s head coach Sheila Moore talked about the difference in her team’s performance between the two halves.

“I think we played with so much composure and worked so hard in that first half and then we came out and it seemed like they were playing not to lose the game,” said Moore. “When you do that you tend to play back and we had four or five turnovers and could not convert when we had chances.”

Moore’s team falls to 0-2 on the season and will travel to Prairie Heights High School Friday night in search of their first win. Wawasee on the other hand improves to 2-0 for the eighth straight season and welcomes in Fairfield Saturday night for the Lady Warriors home opener. Last season the Falcons handed Wawasee a 57-39 loss in Benton. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m.

The Lakeland JV enjoyed a 34-21 win over Wawasee. Natalie Jones paced the Lady Warriors (0-2) with nine points while Megan Grindle added two points, eight rebounds and four assists.