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Mississinawa
Vally senior Cale Cox drives through the Union City
defense
Saturday night. The Hawks went to 1-1 on the season with a
66-54 victory
over the Indians. CNO photos by Dylan Knoop
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Hawks bounce back after season opening loss
MV wins Battle of the Hub
By George Starks
UNION CITY- After suffering a season opening loss Friday at
Tri-Village, Saturday brought on Mississinawa Valley's cross town
rivals, Union City.
While all coaches wants to win every game, there are a few games marked
on the calendar that are must wins.
In the case of the Blackhawks, that game is against the Union City
Indians.
That win came to pass Saturday night as the Hawks were forced to hold
off a determined bunch from the Indiana side to post a 66-54 victory.
"Last night we were very nervous. We played an excellent team in
Tri-Village," said Hawks coach Rodney Saintignon. "This was a nice way
to come back after last night. We came in this morning and worked on
some things. We came back tonight, cleaned some things up, played hard
and got a good win for the program."
With three players in double figures, led by junior Dane Blumenstock
with 21 and 13 from junior Carson Stump, the Hawks got a career game
from senior Bryson Pollic with 12, it was Pollic's play that made the
difference.
"Bryson has been playing exceptionally well this season. He has been
playing hard and he likes that little 10 to 15 foot shot on the
inside," Saintignon stated. "Dane is our go to guy though. He can get a
lot of things done out there."
Mississinawa Valley started the night in a man-to-man press that paid
dividends, forcing 11 Union City turnovers in the first quarter that
led to 10 Blackhawk points and a 17-7 advantage.
"Our game plan was to try to get them down early by using that press,"
Saintignon pointed out. "We figured if we pressed them and got them
frustrated, we could steal the ball and put the pressure on them. We
executed everything perfectly and got the game off to a good start."
Holding what seemed to be a comfortable 34-22 lead at the break, the
mystery that is MV basketball, haunted the Hawks in the third quarter.
The Indians came out on the warpath, closing the gap to five points
twice before the Hawks could regain the lead at 47-39.
"I don't know what it is about the third quarter here," Saintignon
said. "I don't know if it's a curse here or what. Maybe we need to come
out of the locker room quicker at halftime and keep that momentum going.
Leading by as much as 13 points in the fourth quarter, Saintignon said
he was never comfortable with that lead.
Now 1-1 on the season, the Hawks will host Newton and will visit St.
Henry on Saturday.
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Union
City senior Wyatt Bentz gets an easy bucket against the Hawks Saturday.
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