Kabrea Rostochak swishes a three late in Tuesday’s game against Fairfield. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

SYRACUSE — In the battle for Indiana, the state went red during election night. But it was all about the team in blue on the hardwood Tuesday night as Farifield escaped Wawasee 42-40 behind the heroics of Jordan Kintigh.

Fairfield held a seven-point lead with under two minutes to play in the contest, but a flurry of turnovers and all-around bad play from the Falcons put Wawasee back in the game at 40-38. Aubrey Schmeltz was fouled under the basket and went to the line for the Warriors. Schmeltz hit the first, prompting a timeout from the Fairfield bench. Out of the break Wawasee’s senior remained calm and sank the second free throw to tie things up 40-40 with just five seconds remaining. Fairfield beat Wawasee down the court and Kintigh found herself with a wide-open shot to lift her team to victory as time expired.

“What we talked about in that timeout was about what we wanted to do after Aubrey made that free throw,” explained Wawasee head coach Matt Carpenter. “We wanted to play off of people, but pick them up enough so it would take them time to move the ball. We hadn’t been in that scenario this season or over the summer.

“It’s a live and learn situation, I could’ve done a better job clarifying. We talked about those things after the game, we want to learn from this. That way we don’t make the same mistake twice.”

Wawasee avoided making too many mistakes throughout the evening but the offensive production was simply not there for the majority of the game. The Warriors shot just 22.7-percent from the floor while Fairfield shot 48.5-percent. Perhaps the biggest positive from Wawasee’s side was the team’s resiliency when faced with scoring droughts and pressure from Fairfield’s physical squad. The biggest sign of perseverance from the Warriors was their comeback in the final two minutes to give themselves a chance at the win.

“A team that gives up right there, with two minutes left, loses by 15,” Carpenter said. “What I like to take from this is that these girls have fight, they have heart, they have perseverance, they didn’t hang their heads and they made some plays. Now, what we need to do is not be in that scenario the next time out. We need to have that sense of urgency earlier in the basketball game.

“I think we had it earlier, then we lost it in the second quarter, part of the third. There is a mental fatigue that goes with these close games as well. I thought we showed heart coming back from that but we need to sustain that urgency and energy for longer periods of time.”

Another bright spot for Wawasee was the play of Hannah Haines. The senior led all scorers with 12 points, going 3-4 from three-point range. Her shots from deep came at big times to keep Wawasee in the game late.

“That’s the Hannah Haines that we’ve seen in practice,” said Carpenter. “How she played at Marian was not what we have been seeing in practice. She was as disappointed as anybody about that. It was a great game for her to rebound in, he responded in a great way with her play. She gave it her all and put the team on her back at times tonight. That’s what we need to see when teams double and triple Aubrey Schmeltz in the post.”

Aubrey Kuhn added nine points for Wawasee and led the team with six rebounds. Schmeltz pulled down five rebounds. Fairfield was led by an 11-point effort from Alexis Thaxton. Katie Lashley added nine. Kintigh had six for the Falcons. Felicity Bontrager led Fairfield with six boards.

Wawasee (0-2) plays at Westview Friday night. Fairfield (2-0) hosts Elkhart Memorial Thursday night.

Wawasee won the junior varsity contest 35-28 in overtime. Sara Pritchard led the JV Warriors with 13 points. Kara Kitson led Fairfield with eight. Wawasee is now 2-0 on the year.