By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

UNION CITY, IN — The Blackhawks boys basketball team falls to 1-1 on the season after they lose at cross-state rivals Union City, 67-19.

After a good first quarter, the Indians started to take full control of the game and led the rest of the way through. Head coach Cole Hamilton said it was a good learning experience for his starters and for his younger players.

“Towards the end, we threw some of the freshmen in there to see what they had. Not saying that we relied on the freshmen by all means, we know what to work on in practice this week and get ready for another great game against Tri-Village and see if we can come out with at least a little bit better performance against Tri-Village,” Hamilton said.

Union City led 36-14 at halftime and only led 14-5 after the first quarter. The Indians made a buzzer-beater at the end of the first half to extend their lead to 22 points.

After a good first quarter from the Mississinawa Valley defense, Union City started to speed up offensively and got the defense out of position.

The three-point shot also doomed the Blackhawks. Union City made 10 three-point shots in the game. Hamilton said they knew Union City would work to get off a three-pointer. It was just one of those nights where they couldn’t miss.

“Watching Union City over film, they’re reliant on the three pointer to go in. Tonight, they had one heck of a night. A hot night that we couldn’t really guard or couldn’t stop,” Hamilton said.

The offense for Mississinawa Valley had some good moments. They moved the ball well and got some good looks at the basket. They just couldn’t convert on some of them to make it a closer game.

Union City was able to take away the paint from Mississinawa Valley and got turnovers when the Blackhawks tried to get the ball into the post.

Despite the inconsistent night, the Blackhakws played hard all game long. They kept fighting and played their game.

For Union City, senior Conner Wasler led with 17 points and five made three pointers. Junior Trendon Spence had 12 points.

For Mississinawa Valley, freshman Cing Scott had eight points. Sophomore Kyle Wehrkamp had seven points and senior Aron Hunt had four points.

Hamilton said the team will have to battle back from this loss and get ready for Tri-Village. They will host the Patriots on Dec. 8 with the JV starting at 6 p.m.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]