Wawasee’s Elizabeth Jackson is called for an offensive foul, drawn by NorthWood’s Jordyn Frantz, Saturday in NorthWood’s 63-34 victory at Wawasee. (Photos by Mike Deak)

SYRACUSE – Just like a lot of cars parked outside this week, it took the NorthWood Panthers girls basketball team a little while to get warmed up. Once going, NorthWood had no trouble speeding past Wawasee, 63-34, Saturday at the Hardwood Teepee.

NorthWood’s Haley Roe drives to the basket on a fast break.

What was just a 6-0 NorthWood lead five minutes into the first quarter suddenly ballooned to a 14-2 lead. A double-edged sword of Wawasee foul trouble and NorthWood attacking the basket allowed for the bulge, which was all the separation the visitors needed.

With guard Elizabeth Jackson and post Aubrey Schmeltz on the bench with two fouls each at the five-minute mark of the first quarter, NorthWood got its offense going. With Jackson on the bench, Jordyn Frantz was able to get loose for a pair of jumpers. Schmeltz’s vacant size inside allowed for McKayla Fielstra to open up, scoring six of her 11 points.

A 16-5 NorthWood lead after one turned quickly into a 28-5 advantage after Wood opened the second quarter on a 12-0 run. Frantz was in the middle of it, scoring 10 points in the quarter and finishing with a game-high 23 points. The contest was all but decided, but for NorthWood head coach Adam Yoder, there was still plenty to work on.

NorthWood’s Jordyn Frantz shoots over Wawasee’s Kylee Rostochak.

“It was more important for us tonight to get our legs underneath us again,” stated Yoder, whose team had not played since Dec. 30. “I wanted to see our starters go hard through three quarters and go from there. Just to see what they could do.”

Wawasee struggled to get into any offensive rhythm with NorthWood hounding the ball all night. The Lady Warriors turned the ball over on its first five possessions and finished with 17 turnovers in the first half alone.

NorthWood also held Wawasee’s primary scoring threat, Kylee Rostochak, to 11 points. Rostochak didn’t hit her first jumper until the 6:23 mark in the third quarter and didn’t look comfortable in Wawasee’s offense with a hand in her face most of the evening.

“We’re making progress in the sense that a lot of the things we talk about at practice in preparation for games, they are seeing it now,” said Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman. “Our defense just let us down tonight. NorthWood made us go faster than we wanted to go, and to their credit, they ran things we weren’t prepared to defend. We have to buckle down and play harder on the defensive end or we’ll see this type of night more often.”

Wawasee’s Hannah Haines works up court against NorthWood’s Taitlyn Trenshaw.

Allissa Flores scored all five of Wawasee’s first quarter points but wound up with seven points overall. No other Warrior had more than four points.

NorthWood’s Haley Roe added nine points and Arika Flickinger tossed in six points.

NorthWood moves to 12-5 on the season and sit in the Northern Lakes Conference penthouse at 3-0 after Northridge’s overtime loss to Warsaw Saturday night. Wawasee, on the other hand, fall to 4-10 overall and 0-3 in the conference.

The junior varsity game went to overtime, with NorthWood claiming a 33-30 victory. Gabi Glass hit a shot at the buzzer to send the game to overtime tied at 28.

NorthWood will prepare for a big road test at Tippecanoe Valley Tuesday while Wawasee will host Columbia City Tuesday night.