Blackhawks repeat with win over Lady 'Dogs

(Sentinel photo by Roy Tucker) The Hinton Blackhawks registered their second straight Hy-Vee Tournament championship with a 52-19 win over Le Mars on Saturday evening at Carey Gymnasium. [Click to enlarge]

The Hinton Blackhawks started the 2009-10 season in similar fashion to the beginning of their perfect regular season a year ago - with a pair of wins at the Hy-Vee Girls Basketball Tournament.

Hinton bested Le Mars in the championship game Saturday evening for the second year in a row, although the contest went much differently this time around.

"I was expecting a lot closer game myself," said Hinton coach Joel Small after his squad defeated the hosts 52-19. "Le Mars' shooting woes - I don't know if it was our defense or not - but they couldn't put the ball in the hole."

Le Mars coach Barry Borchers put it quite simply: "They played harder than we did."

It was a game where nothing seemed to go right for the Lady Bulldogs, who scored just four first-half points, as cold shooting led to a 9-for-16 mark at the charity stripe to go along with a 5-for-32 performance from the field.

But Small thought his team, which averaged nearly 68 points per game last season, got off to a slow start as well.

"We were kind of cold too," said Small, whose team led 12-1 after eight minutes of play. "It was kind of a funny first quarter (and) then the lid just stayed on the basket for (Le Mars) and we were able to get some points going."

Small said a key to the Blackhawks' victory was shutting down Le Mars' leading scorers in Emily Anderson, who scored 19 points against Sioux City East Friday night, and Erica Westhoff (12 points). Against Hinton, Anderson and Westhoff scored just five points apiece.

"I thought we did a good job identifying (Erica Westhoff) and stopping penetration," Small said. "We tried to stop Anderson from shooting 3's and I thought we did a good job with her."

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, got their offense clicking with 14 points in each of the second and third quarters with a strong performance from junior Ashton Moody, who was an All-Tournament team selection.

"Ashton played a tremendous game," Small said of the Blackhawks' forward, who scored 17 points in the win. "She's got to be a leader for us."

Sadie Shuck neared a double-double as she rolled up 10 points for the second consecutive night and pulled down nine rebounds. The freshman center also blocked four shots.

Mackenzie Small, who was also named to the All-Tournament team, scored nine points, including five from the charity stripe, dished out four assists and wrapped up eight rebounds for the Blackhawks. Mallory Thoreson chipped in eight points and five assists while Moody registered 10 steals.

"It was just a solid team effort," Small said. "I'm really proud of the girls this weekend. Twice out of the chute against decent competition, I thought we really played well."

Westhoff, who was named to the All-Tournament team, collected four steals for the Lady Bulldogs. Bailey Heidebrink pulled down seven rebounds and Alex Schuett collected five for Le Mars, which totaled 21 rebounds as a team.

Hinton 62, Rock Valley 43

Hinton collected its first win of the season with a 62-43 victory over Rock Valley in the first game of the weekend's tournament Friday.

"I told the girls in the locker room, I'm very pleased with the first game out of the gate," Small said. "I felt we got started really well and took the wind out of their sails a little bit."

The Blackhawks rolled up a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter en route to a 38-14 halftime lead.

"They made some adjustments at halftime," said Small, whose team saw the Rockets cut their deficit to a 45-27 margin in the third quarter. "They made some adjustments inside and (showed) we have to play a little better post defense."

Rock Valley got close only once more - in the first minute of the fourth quarter - as the lead was down to 51-35 before the Blackhawks put away the 19-point victory and earned a spot in the championship contest.

"We got out of our full-court press and we had a little bit of foul trouble," Small said. "That kind of takes us out of our rhythms, (but) other girls filled in well. I guess we didn't press as much the second half."

The Blackhawks saw even performances from six different players, led by Mackenzie Small with 16 points.

Shuck collected 10 points in her first varsity start while Ashton Moody scored nine and Thoreson chipped in eight.

"I think the summer did her a world of good," Small said of the freshman, who added six rebounds and five blocks to her statistics. "For a freshman, she's pretty good around the hoop. She gets a little better foot speed, she'll be a force. She will be."

Katie Clausen scored eight points off the bench while Jenna Riediger added seven.

"We need to realize on the court who (other teams' shooters) are," Small said. "Girls like Sadie Shuck, Katie Clausen and Jenna Riediger who had never been on varsity before stepped up and did some nice things. The entire bench did well - even those two sophomores, Morgan (Mehrer) and Megan (Barkley) did well to fill in minutes there."

"They are pretty cohesive. They work hard and they play hard together."

Moody, Small and Thoreson each pulled down four rebounds while Moody dished out seven assists and Small added six. Small and Thoreson each grabbed five steals for the Blackhawks, who host River Valley in their home opener on Monday.

Le Mars 57, SC East 54

Three nights after the Lady Bulldogs posted a less than impressive shooting performance at the charity stripe, it was free throws that sealed a spot in the championship game of the annual Hy-Vee Girls Basketball Tournament.

"I'm not going to say we did anything miraculous about that, but we did work on it," Borchers said. "I thought they made some big ones down the stretch."

Le Mars was 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the final two minutes as they defeated the Black Raiders of Sioux City East by a 57-54 margin.

The Lady Bulldogs had a 35-22 lead after an Anderson 3-pointer with 6:40 to play in the third quarter.

But the Black Raiders went on a 6-0 run in the fourth as Melissa Mounts, an All-Tournament team selection, cut Le Mars' lead to 51-50 with 2:35 to play.

East would tie the game at 53-53 with 1:30 to go before Anderson connected on a pair of free throws to give the Lady 'Dogs a 55-53 advantage with just over a minute to play.

"It teaches you how to maintain composure," Borchers said of the thrilling victory. "We let them come back and tie it and had some chances to take the lead, so that will pay off for us down the road, I know it will."

Le Mars held 10-point advantages at the end of each of the first three quarters, starting with a 16-6 lead after eight minutes of action.

"There's a confidence and an air about the team this year," Borchers said. "Like I said, we're not huge in numbers, but we're huge in heart and that's what makes them what they are."

Anderson was a force from the outside for Le Mars as she poured in 19 points, including a 3-for-4 performance beyond the 3-point arc.

"(Emily Anderson) had a nice stretch there where she scored a bunch of points and hit some key shots," Borchers said. "That's what she's capable of doing."

Westhoff collected 12 points while Leah Clement scored nine points off the bench.

"(Erica Westhoff) had a good game," Borchers said. "She got in foul trouble and that slowed her down a little bit, but she sure played a nice game.

Heidebrink pulled down eight rebounds while Westhoff added six in the win.

One area of concern Borchers saw following the contest was a need for a more physical presence on the court.

"We gotta learn to play more physical," Borchers said. "We're not real big, but we still have to learn to play more physical."

The Lady Bulldogs (2-1) travel to Estherville-Lincoln Central as they open Lakes Conference play on Tuesday.

Sports editor Jesse Geleynse contributed to this report.