ROCHESTER – It was a rivalry renewed for the Wawasee boys basketball team on Saturday afternoon.

Wawasee traveled to Fulton County to take on a former Northern Lakes Conference foe in Rochester High School. The Zebras and Warriors played a physical game, a little too physical at times, as Wawasee claimed a 61-48 victory in the two team’s first meeting since 1995.

One of the biggest issues that this season’s Wawasee team has had is its inability to score consistently. The 61 points scored by the Warriors are a season high for the young team. Wawasee has eclipsed the 50-point threshold just four times in 16 games this season, in those games the Warriors are 3-1. The defense has been there, but the offense has not.

That changed for Wawasee on Saturday, thanks in part to sophomore guard, Jeffrey Moore. Moore came into the game with limited varsity experience this season. His only points came in a 67-49 loss at Warsaw where he hit just one three-pointer. But Wawasee head coach Steve Wiktorowski took a chance by giving Moore his first career start, hoping a change in the lineup would spark some life into his offense. Moore did not disappoint.

Moore was one of four Warriors to score in double-digits. The sophomore hit four three pointers, all in the first half, to help his team have its best offensive performance of the season. He would finish with 12 points, four rebounds and two assists.

While Wiktorowski certainly had a chance to take credit for putting Moore in the starting lineup, the coach played off any credit for the move and instead applauded Moore’s ability to step in and make a difference.

“Jeffrey really gave us a great start,” Wiktorowski said. “We had a lot of support from our guys on the bench today and all-around we played well but I think Jeffrey starting us off really gave us that feeling that today was our day.”

As the coach said, it was a team effort. Moore got things going but the veteran’s on Wawasee’s roster sealed the deal. Wawasee only led by five, 27-22, at half and on several occasions this season the Warriors have failed to put two halves together. That changed on Saturday.

Wawasee continued its best offense game of the season with a 16-point effort in the third quarter, capped by a clutch three at the buzzer from junior Aaron Voirol. The shot extended Wawasee’s lead to 43-34. Voirol had 11 points for the game.

The Warriors played keep-away for most of the fourth quarter, picking up the majority of their final 18 points on free throws. Wawasee was 24-29 from the line in the game and 20-24 in the second half. Gage Reinhard spent most of his time at the line, hitting 10-12 foul shots. Reinhard finished with 12 points and led the team with nine rebounds.

Leading the scoring for Wawasee was Alex Clark. Clark had 14 points and six rebounds. Stori Bright was the team’s defensive specialist with four steals and six defensive boards.

Defense was key for Wawasee as they held leading Zebra scorer Luke Cannedy to just two points. Cannedy came in averaging over 16 points per game. Alec Holland led Rochester with 19 points.

“I think we’ll be focused moving forward,” said Wiktorowski. “The kids are excited about today, they want to go play again. They still haven’t picked up that NLC win so I have no doubt that they’re going to be able to turn around and be focused on the rest of this season.”

Saturday’s game was the 37th meeting between Rochester and Wawasee. The two schools met annually in NLC play before the Zebras left to join the Three Rivers Conference following the 1987 season. Wawasee is now 22-15 all-time against Rochester and has won the past seven meetings.

Wawasee (4-12) will travel to Westview (12-4) on Tuesday night with tip scheduled for 7:30 p.m.