ELKHART – The Wawasee boys basketball team got off to a stellar start in the first three minutes versus Elkhart Memorial Friday night.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, the game still had 29 minutes to be played.

The host Crimson Chargers dug out of an early hole to charge past the Warriors 64-44 in a Northern Lakes Conference clash at North Side Gym.

Senior Dimitri Giger pumped in a game-high 16 points and snared 11 rebounds for the Chargers, who improve to 8-5 overall and 2-0 in the NLC.

Seniors Alex Clark and Aaron Voirol each scored 11 points to pace Wawasee, which drops to 5-6 overall and 0-3 in league play.

Wawasee, which has now lost its last five games, sees its conference losing streak reach 24 in a row.

It didn’t look that way early on though as the Warriors, playing their fourth straight road game,  came out firing.

Wawasee bolted to a 10-0 lead to open the game as Memorial has turnovers on its first three possessions. Wawasee was up 13-2 after the first three minutes before Memorial regrouped to cut the lead to 18-15 after the opening period of play. Wawasee hit four treys in the first quarter, including a pair by Voirol.

The second quarter turned into a tough eight-minute stretch for the Warriors. Giger scored six in the stanza as Wawasee was outscored 13-0 in the period to trail 28-18 at halftime. The Chargers outscored the Warriors 26-5 in the final 13 minutes of the opening half.

The Warriors trailed by as many as 11 points in the third quarter. Wawasee closed though with a 6-0 run, capped by a trey by senior Gage Reinhard to pull within 36-31. The fourth quarter, for the second straight week, was rough. Senior Jaylin Rhodes scored 10 in the period as the Chargers netted a 28-13 edge in the final frame.

“We came out early and handled their press, moved the ball well and hit shots,” said Wawasee coach Steve Wiktorowski. “They made a run in the second quarter. We had some turnovers and got soft versus their press. They upped the pressure, gained confidence and got the momentum.

“We kept calm and climbed back into it in the third quarter. At half, we talked about slowing down and finishing. Then in the fourth, for the second straight week, we did not perform on either end like we can.”

Memorial shot 26-52 from the field, while Wawasee was 14-55. The hosts were 4-12 from deep and the Warriors 6-20. The Chargers had a 38-14 edge in points in the paint and a 24-4 advantage in bench points.

“The No. 1 thing we worked on in practice this week and talked about was finishing, finishing, finishing,” stated Wiktorowski. “They took better advantage of the chances they had and finished.

“We hit a tough stretch now (three of the next four on the road), but we need to go back home for our next game and continue what we started early on at home.”

Reinhard finished with eight points and Stori Bright seven and nine rebounds for Wawasee. David Rocha and Jeffrey Moore each had three points and Jayce Boatwright one.

Rhodes finished with 14 points and Cameron Maxwell 10 for Memorial, which has heated the Warriors each of the last four seasons.

Memroial won the junior varsity game 62-41. Stephon Miller scored 16 points and Aaron Beer 13 to lead Wawasee. Tryston Swartz had 16 points and Davon Long 15 for the winners.

Wawasee hosts Plymouth in NLC play next Friday night. Memorial hosts league foe Northridge Jan. 24.