In an intense game at home, the Blackhawks stayed the course and continually played strong on both ends of the court versus the Neillsville Warriors and pulled away at the end of the game to earn a 70-48 victory.

Both teams attacked early but had a difficult time scoring. The Hawks got a Sherwood to Wendler connection for two to get on the board. Later, the Blackhawks found their groove scoring on five straight possessions, three baskets off steals by Winston Poeher and two by Dominic Sherwood. Then four free throws by Wendler and Sherwood. Colin Fritz extended the lead to 14-11 with a drive. Poehler's deep three continued the scoring, as more from the Blackhawks came. Wendler for two, Gay with back-to-back threes, and Poehler with another three making it 28-20. The Blackhawks took a 33-29 lead to the locker room.

The Blackhawks offense continued in the second half. Wendler continued to score inside with three early points, along with a Poehler hoop. Another four points by Wendler and Poehler gave the Blackhawks a 40-31 lead. Dominic Sherwood scored on a jumper, with Sam Wells also adding a hoop. Sherwood made a key pass to Mason Gay as the Warriors drew closer, but Gay hit the three pushing the lead back to 50-42. Gay wasn't satisfied as he hit another three two possessions later. Poehler and Wendler connected on a nice high-low pass for two. A Sherwood steal for a lay-up got the lead up to 16 points as the Blackhawks stayed strong on the defensive end plus converted on the free throw line to win 70-48.

The Blackhawks shot 46% from the field along with 6 of 15 from three. They outrebounded the Warriors 42-32 and finished with 18 steals. 

Box Score: Wendler 20 pts, 8 rebs; Poehler 15 pts, 7 rebs, 5 asts, 6 stls; Gay 14 pts, 2 rebs, 3 asts, 2 stls; Sherwood 12 pts, 10 rebs, 5 asts, 6 stls; Fritz 5 pts, 6 rebs, 3 asts, 4 stls; Wells 4 pts, 5 rebs; Baehr 3 rebs.

Coach's Comments

We played solid on both ends, keeping the pressure on Neillsville on the defensive end with our trap and man to man defense. Also, we kept the pressure on them on the offensive end, playing aggressive and continually attacking the rim, scoring at all three levels. We really shared the ball tonight and hit the boards hard scoring 17 second chance points.