Blackhawks drop opening game to Manawa
The Blackhawks participated in the Stratford Holiday Tournament over the Christmas break and took on the Manawa Wolves and unfortunately dropped the opener by a 43-40 final.
The Hawks started quickly jumping on the Wolves with a 9-3 lead as Jack Wendler hit a pair of free throws early followed by another hoop inside from a Winston Poehler pass. Poehler would knock down a three on the very next possession and would score again on an inbound play as Talon Mueller assisted on the hoop. Unfortunately the Blackhawks offense would go dry as they had many great opportunities to score but couldn't finish and Manawa took advantage and had the halftime lead at 24-18.
Poehler would score the first four points for the Hawks in the second half with a strong drive followed by a pair of free throws. A Wendler basket inside later kept the Blackhawks within six points at 30-24. The Hawks fell behind by as much as 10, but then made a late push. Poehler and Tegan Treankler each scored off steals to make it 40-34. A pair of free throws by Colton Paczkowski and a tough three by Poehler made it 43-39 with a minute to play. Another free throw by Paczkowki cut it to three and after a defensive stand the Hawks had a go look at a three that just didn't go down at the end.
The Blackhawks only shot 22% overall from the floor, but 12 of 17 (71%) at the line.
Box Score: Poehler 21 pts, 13 rebs, 5 stls; Wendler 8 pts, 6 rebs; Treankler 6 pts, 5 rebs; Paczkowski 3 pts, 8 rebs, 3 stls; Pyrchalla 2 pts, 2 rebs, 2 asts; Talon Mueller 6 rebs.
Coach's Comments
We flat out just went cold as we got great shots all night and excellent looks at the rim close in, but they just didn't fall. Our defense held tight even though we had some breakdowns. We only turned the ball over 10 times as we gave ourselves plenty of chances.

Blackhawks lost to Berlin
The Consolation game of the Stratford Tournament pitted the Berlin Indians vs. the Owen-Withee Blackhawks. The Blackhawks weren't able to keep up to the consistent scoring of the Indians and lost by a final of 67-41.
Senior Winston Poehler got the Hawks going on the first possession by hitting a 15-foot pull-up jumper as the Blackhawks were patient on offense, but during the next 11 possessions the Hawks could only muster one free throw by Jack Wendler and the Indians grabbed a 13-3 lead. The Blackhawks responded with a 12-6 run with Poehler and junior Talon Mueller hitting key shots. Another three by Poehler followed later by a three by Clay Mueller put the score at 19-15 as the Hawks were within four. Unfortunately the Indians went on a 10-1 run to finish out the half, making the halftime score 29-16.
The Blackhawks continued to battle with Talon Mueller knocking in a three to start the second half. A strong putback by Wendler inside helped the offense with Wendler also finding a cutting Talon Mueller for an old-fashioned three-point play. After an inside hoop by Tegan Treankler cut the lead to seven, the offense went cold the rest of the way. The Blackhawks battled for great looks, but had a difficult time getting the ball to fall. Berlin slowly pulled away with the 67-41 victory.
Despite only turning the ball over eight times in the game, the Hawks only shot 25% which wasn't good enough versus the Indians.
Box Score: Poehler 15 pts, 10 rebs, 2 stls; Talon Mueller 8 pts, 3 rebs, 2 asts; Wendler 6 pts, 9 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls; Treankler 4 pts, 2 rebs; Paczkowski 3 pts, 3 rebs, 2 asts; Clay Muller 3 pts, 3 rebs; Pyrchalla 2 pts, 2 asts, 2 stls; Sanchez 2 rebs.
Coach's Comments
This was a quality opponent to play over break, as these games will make us better in the long run as we hit the middle of our conference season all in January. The guys kept with it and learned a lot tonight as our shooting and finishing inside let us down, but we will bounce back and play better.