Madi Graham runs the show for Warsaw Saturday night. The junior led the Tigers to a 36-30 NLC win at Wawasee.

SYRACUSE – Warsaw’s Madi Graham got knocked to the deck on several occasions late in the game versus Wawassee Saturday night.

The feisty guard then got to her feet each time at crunch time and calmly collected herself to hit clutch free throws to deck the Warriors.

Graham scored her team’s final six points from the free throw line over the final minute to lift Warsaw to a tough 36-30 win over the Warriors in a Northern Lakes Conference clash of rivals.

Graham finished with a game-high 13 points as the junior drained 10-15 from the charity stripe. She made her final five free throws in the last 30.7 seconds to seal the deal.

Page Desenberg had a strong game for the Tigers.

Warsaw outscored the Warriors 11-5 in the final quarter by getting to the line. The Tigers converted nine free throws, seven by Graham, in the last stanza to earn the win. Each team had just one basket in the fourth period with Wawasee’s coming on a 3-pointer with five seconds to play.

Junior Page Desenberg had a big game with eight points for Warsaw, which improves to 2-10 overall and 2-0 in the NLC.

Senior standout Kylee Rostochak scored 12 points and sophomore Hannah-Marie Lamle eight to lead Wawasee, which falls to 4-8 overall and 0-3 in league play.

Warsaw won despite a slow start and an off night from its top player Dayton Groninger. The junior guard, Warsaw’s top scorer at 12.6 ppg., played limited minutes due to foul trouble and finished the night with just two points on a pair of free throws. The two charity tosses were key though as they made it 30-27 with 1:37 left in the game.

“I can’t say how proud I am of everyone tonight,” said Warsaw coach Michelle Harter, who was a standout player at Wawasee. “The girls continued to battle and they finished it off. We’ve struggled in that area and this was huge to finish it like we did.

“We’ve talked about how every player on the floor has to step up and that we need all five contributing. We saw all of them who played tonight do that. Dayton had a tough night and we needed everyone to pick her up and they did. We were strong with the ball late and got to the line.

“Madi and I had a talk and I told her that she needed to be our leader and coach on the floor. She did that tonight. She got people where they needed to be for us and was strong with the ball. She’s been a great free throw shooter for us. She was clutch tonight. That says a lot about her mental toughness. This was a big step for her tonight.”

Aubrey Kuhn prepares to let it fly for the Warriors.

Wawasee, which lost 53-14 at Warsaw last season, raced out to a 9-0 lead to open the game. Groninger left the contest with two fouls less than three minutes into it. The Tigers trailed 9-5 after the opening period and 19-12 late in the half before huge offensive rebound buckets by Desenberg and Mariah Rivera cut the Warrior lead to 19-16 at intermission.

The Tigers outscored the hosts 9-6 in the third frame to tie the contest at 25-25. The final stanza saw each team go ice cold as Warsaw took the lead for good when Graham made it 26-25 with a free throw with 3:19 to play. The Warriors struggled with turnovers in the final half, including having five in the fourth quarter.

“We are our own worst enemy,” said Wawase coach Kem Zolman. “We’re still struggling with the same things. We just kill ourselves. You can see it happen with the turnovers. That’s us right now. We just have to get tougher. It’s a toughness issue for us, physically and mentally. We have 11 games to work on it.

“I thought our kids came out and played great at the beginning, like a million bucks. They were playing with confidence and played extremely well that first quarter and then all of a sudden it stopped. The momentum changed right before half with those two putbacks by them. Then it seemed like it was tied at 25 forever. It was like who broke the tie first would win.”

Warsaw finished 13-19 from the line, while Wawasee was just 3-5.

Madi Graham came up clutch from the line late in the game.

Graham, who was averaging 5.9 ppg. entering play Saturday night, also led her team with eight rebounds.

Kenzie Welk had six points, Rivera four, Emma Bohnenkamper two and Kacy Bragg one for Warsaw.

Aubrey Schmeltz scored four points and Aubrey Kuhn and Erin Wiktorowski three each for Wawasee.

Warsaw won the junior varsity game 33-23. Morgan Bruner and Kerigan Hatfield each had eight points and Maddie Ryman six for the Tigers. Faith Swihart had six points and Tiffany Koble five to lead the Warriors.

Warsaw hosts Triton Tuesday in a girls/boys doubleheader. Wawasee plays Brebeuf and Norwell on Jan. 2 in the Brebeuf Tournament.

Dayton Groninger lines one up for Warsaw.

Kabrea Rostochak looks to pass for Wawasee.