Kylee Rostochak heads to the hoop for Wawasee Friday night. The host Warriors lost 33-30 to Westview.

SYRACUSE – The Wawasee girls basketball team could not quite finish what it started Friday night.

The Warriors came up just short at the end in dropping a tough 33-30 final to Westview in non-conference play.

Wawasee saw a seven-point lead evaporate in the final four minutes as the visiting Warriors closed the contest with a 12-2 run to claim the win.

Westview standout Grace Hales, who earlier this week signed to play collegiately at Valparaiso University next year, hit two free throws with 11.4 seconds to play for a three-point lead. The two free throws by the 6-0 senior were her only two points of the second half.

Wawasee star Kylee Rostochak then saw her 3-point try bounce off the rim just before the final horn.

“This one hurts and I think it hurts our girls because they know we had it,” said Wawasee coach Kem Zolman. “We will learn from this and move on. I think this game shows the improvement we have made since last year.

“But down the stretch you have to be good and finish games. That’s something we have to learn to do. We had breakdowns down the stretch, especially defensively, that you can’t have against good teams.”

Wawasee, now 1-2, led 28-21 with just over four minutes to play Friday night. Westview got a pair of huge back-to-back buckets inside by 6-0 sophomore Alex Burr, a rebound hoop by 6-1 senior Maria McCoy and then a jumper by junior Reagan Sharick with 1:22 left to tie the game at 29-29. The shot by Sharick were her only two points of the game.

“We knew going in that Hales and McCoy scored 85 percent of their points last year,” said Zolman, whose team lost 58-45 to Westview last season. “Their other kids were unproven scorers. Credit No. 21 (Sharick). She hit the one big shot. And were did No. 45 come from?

“We tried to shrink the game with about 3:30 left. But we forced a couple of things when there was no reason to and that hurt us. You have to do things, like the fundamentals well, until the end of the game.”

Aubrey Schmaltz eyes a free throw attempt.

Wawasee committed a turnover with 1:04 to play and the game tied. Burr then hit a layup to give Westview a 31-29 lead with 42 seconds to play. Rostochak was then fouled with 14 seconds remaining. The senior missed her first free throw and made the second to make it 31-30 before Hales hit her pair for the final.

Westview, which finished 25-4 and lost in the Class 2-A regional final a year ago to Fort Wayne Canterbury, led 7-5 after the opening period. Wawasee inched ahead 17-16 at halftime and actually stretched its lead to 22-19 after the third period despite not making a single field goal in the third quarter. The hosts hit five free throws in the period.

McCoy, who entered the season with 1,071 career points, led Westview with 13 points. Hales, whose father Ross was a two-sport star at Elkhart Memorial and played football and basketball at Indiana University, finished with 11 points. Hales, who averaged 16.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game as a junior, began the season with 1,082 career points.

Westview, which is ranked No. 5 in the ICGSA Class 2-A poll, has won three straight Class 2-A sectional championships.

Rostochak led Wawasee with 13 points. Junior Aubrey Schmaltz scored 10 points for the Warriors. Sophomore Kabrea Rostochak finished with three points and junior Hannah Haines and sophomore Hannah-Marie Lamle each had two.

Westview won the junior varsity game by a 33-32 final. Ashya Klopfenstein scored 14 points and Jenna Duff seven to lead the winners. The trio of Casey Schroeder, Caitlin Wortinger and Sara Pritchard each had six points to lead Wawasee.

Hannah-Marie Lamle protects the ball.

Wawasee (1-2) hosts Lakeland Tuesday night. Westview (1-0) plays at Garrett Saturday night.