The Blackhawks took on the Mercer Tigers to start their WIAA tournament action on Tuesday and came away with a convincing 80-27 decision to advance to the second round of the tournament.
The Hawks jumped out to an early 12-2 lead as defensive pressure led to transition points. Mason Gay set the tone also with his outside shooting, knocking down three three-pointers in the half for 13 first half points. Sophomore Winston Poehler came off the bench in the first half and sparked the offense with 10 points on a few drives. Vince Henke scored in transition and inside with eight points in the half. Pressure and some nice passing from Quinn Hatlestad, Dominic Sherwood and Colin Fritz helped build the lead past 30 points as Jack Wendler and Ryan Nelson each scored six inside points The Hawks led 55-10 at the half.
The second half continued with more of the same, but with different lineups for the Hawks, as six different players scored in the second half. Colton Paczkowski, Sam Wells, Alex Ledesma, Sam Rasmussen, and Brett Baehr continued the game for the Blackhawks and executed well. The Blackhawks finished the game with an 80-27 final score.
The Blackhawks finished with 28 second chance points, 56 rebounds and only 8 turnovers.
Box Score: Poehler 16 pts, 11 rebs, 2 asts; Gay 13 pts, 3 rebs, 2 stls; Wendler 10 pts, 9 rebs; Rasmussen 9 pts, 3 rebs; Henke 8 pts, 4 rebs, 2 blks; Nelson 6 pts, 4 rebs, 2 stls; Wells 6 pts, 1 stl; Fritz 5 pts, 3 rebs, 3 asts, 2 stls; Sherwood 4 pts, 3 asts, 2 stls; Hatlestad 2 pts, 4 rebs, 2 stls, 3 blks; Paczkowski 1 pt, 1 asts, 3 stls; Ledesma 6 rebs, 4 asts, 1 blk; Baehr 1 reb.
Coach's Comments
We were ready tonight and the guys played with intensity and took care of business on both ends. We really shot the ball well tonight and guys off the bench were also ready and came with energy.
