Wawasee’s Hannah-Marie Lamle wrestles the ball away from a host of Lakeland defenders during Wawasee’s 40-36 overtime win Wednesday night at the Wawasee Girls Basketball Sectional. (Photos by Mike Deak)

SYRACUSE – The Wawasee girls basketball team didn’t earn a lot of brownie points Wednesday night, but the only points it needed were the 40 on the board at the end of a 40-36 overtime win against Lakeland in the Wawasee Girls Basketball Sectional.

Certainly making things more interesting in blowing a five-point lead in the final minute of the game, Wawasee found itself deadlocked at 35 with Lakeland after Abigail Thompson drilled a fallback three with nine seconds on the clock. Both teams dodged bullets as the final possessions ate the last seconds of regulation, sending what looked to be a sure Wawasee runaway into bonus basketball.

Wawasee’s Seaquinn Bright (40) swats the shot attempt of Lakeland’s Taylor Yerington.

The grit Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman has been begging for all season finally arrived, albeit in small doses, in overtime. The Warriors recorded three steals and an offensive rebound, which directly translated into its overtime points. Kylee Rostochak’s rebound and putback gave Wawasee a 37-36 lead, and moments later Rostochak stole the ball and hit a free throw.

The junior kept the pain coming with a homerun catch and layup on an inbounds play to go up four, and as the time ticked off the clock, Rostochak held the ball with a look of pure exhaustion on her face as her team moves to the sectional semi-finals Friday night to face Whitko.

“You get towards the end and we need a play, and you see her all over the floor,” Zolman said of Rostochak’s play. “That’s huge for us. We need her. The other kids helped stay together when things were falling apart. We are who we are at this point. We can’t pull any rabbits out of the hat right now.”

Rostochak finished with 19 points to lead her team and had five steals and seven rebounds to round out the supreme effort. Teammate Seaquinn Bright was a bulldog in the paint for Wawasee, notching eight points and six rebounds in a much-needed role in the middle.

Lakeland’s Abigail Thompson led all scorers with 22 points.

Thompson almost single-handedly kept Lakeland around. The senior forward scored nine points in the third quarter, and helped erase what Wawasee had built in a 26-18 lead. Thompson led all scorers with 22 points.

Thompson, however, was the only Laker to score in the first half. Teammate Taylor Yerington joined Thompson in having more than one field goal in the game, but scored just six points before fouling out in overtime.

“The first game is always so difficult to get by,” Zolman said. “Hopefully our schedule has allowed us to be prepared for this weekend. We’ll get that gameplan drawn up, and focus on the next game in front of us. It looks like we’ll ice a lot of wounds and see what we can do Friday.”

Wawasee (7-16) will meet Whitko (15-8) in the second semi-final Friday night. Tippecanoe Valley (20-2) and NorthWood (19-5) will play in Friday’s first game.

Lakeland closes its season 9-14.

Wawasee’s Aubrey Kuhn begins to direct traffic while Wawasee head coach Kem Zolman offers a play in the background.