The Blackhawks went on the road again Monday night for the twelfth time out of their first 14 games, to score a big win at Rib Lake from the Marawood North Conference with the final score being 64-50.

In what turned out to be a defensive battle, both teams' offense showed out early. The Blackhawks got an early offensive rebound from Jack Wendler for their first score. Wendler, two possessions later, would send a nice bounce pass to Colin Fritz for another two. Mason Gay would give the Hawks a short lived 6-5 lead with a score. As both defenses settled in, the Blackhawks ball movement improved with a basket from Wendler, a fifteen-footer from Brett Baehr and a three from Gay. The Hawks led halfway through the first half, 18-10. A steal and lay-in by Fritz kept the offense rolling as Wendler battled and scored on another putback. Gay then hit Winston Poehler on a well executed inbounds play for an easy two. Then just before the halftime buzzer sounded, Mason Gay hit a deep three to hold the halftime score at 33-22.

Rib Lake was not going to be denied as their team came with more focus to start the second half. A Colin Fritz post pass to Dominic Sherwood got the Hawks off to a solid start. Gay then hit another from deep and Wendler scored on a trail cut fastbreak filling the lane. The Blackhawks then scored a three off a Gay kickout to Fritz to go up 45-32. The Blackhawks then had to bounce back after a few sloppy possessions. Fritz got them squared away with a steal and strong finish to hold the lead at 14. A high post basket by Baehr was key in breaking Rib Lake's 1-3-1 defense, along with a long three by Fritz. Later, Gay's three would put the Blackhawks up 59-44 to keep distance between the two teams as Owen-Withee got their tenth win of the season.

The Hawks made seven threes on the night and shot 50% (18-36) from two point range. They also finished with 18 assists and 15 turnovers, compared to 21 turnovers by the Redmen.

Box Score: Gay 20 pts, 5 rebs, 6 asts, 3 stls; Wendler 13 pts, 10 rebs; Fritz 12 pts, 4 rebs, 3 asts, 4 stls; Poehler 8 pts, 4 rebs, 4 asts, 3 stls; Sherwood 4 pts, 4 rebs, 3 asts, 2 stls; Baehr 4 pts, 1 reb; Wells 3 pts, 5 rebs.

Coach's Comments

What a tough win on the road in an atmosphere that really is what basketball is about. They have a quality team and both teams battled all night. I liked how our guys kept bringing the defensive pressure and made it difficult for Rib Lake to go where they wanted to get. We also grabbed some key boards in the end.