Blackhawks suffer first loss of season

The Adrian Blackhawks drew the number 1 seed in the 24th annual Cass-Midway Tournament held February 8-13. In first round action on Tuesday night the Blackhawks drew the number 8 seed Blue Ridge Christian Warriors. This proved to be no contest as Adrian easily won 68 to 19. The highlight of the game was Austin Erickson scoring his 1,000th point. Coach Wheeler commented on the game, “We played well as a team and got a lot of guys into the game. The bench got some good minutes. Congratulations to Austin Erickson on scoring his 1000th point.”

In the second round of the tournament the Blackhawks faced the Mules from Lone Jack. Once again Adrian dominated the game and defeated Lone Jack 60 to 24. Adrian only turned the ball over 8 times and forced Lone Jack to 20 turnovers. The win put the Blackhawks in the championship game on Saturday night to face the Barstow Knights. “This was one of our better nights. I thought we defended well and capitalized on our opponent’s turnovers.”

In the championship game, the Adrian Blackhawks took on the number 2 seed Barstow Knights. In two previous meetings, Adrian had defeated Barstow so the match would prove to be an exciting one. In a back and forth contest, the game went down to the wire and Adrian was not able to hang on as they fell to the Knights 40 to 48. The Blackhawks shot a dismal 24% from the field and made only 7 of 13 free throws. This was Adrian’s first loss and their overall record now stands at 18-1. Coach Wheeler said, “We struggled to score in the first half and we had our worst shooting night. We hope to bounce back and finish strong.”

Right: Erik White drives through two Barstow players during the championship game Saturday night.

Far right: Cody Hannah goes up for two against two Lone Jack players.