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Mississinawa
Valley sophomore Ethan Bowman fights through a double team
as Andrew Augspurger (22) and
Jacob Bassler defend for Twin Valley
South Friday. The Panthers edged out the Blackhawks 44-42 in Cross
County
Conference play. Bowman netted 20 points to lead the way for the
Hawks. CNO Photo by Dylan Knoop
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Hawks fall
short in loss to Panthers
By George Starks
UNION CITY- To say Mississinawa Valley coach Tim Barga was upset with
the performance of his team would be a major exaggeration.
In a very lackluster performance, the Blackhawks couldn’t figure out
how to win on a night they should have won big.
Shooting a miserable 10 of 18 from the foul line and only five of nine
attempts in the fourth quarter, Mississinawa Valley fell to Twin Valley
South Friday, 44-42 in Cross County Conference action.
“We just blew another one,” said MV coach Tim Barga. “It’s time after
time after time. We can’t handle any pressure. So if you want to beat
us, just come out and pressure us. We still have no team leader. We’re
still looking for one.”
Closing out the third quarter on an 8-0 run, highlighted by a blocked
shot from senior Devon Rinderle, Mississinawa Valley came from a 19-18
halftime deficit to take a nice 31-25 lead with eight minutes left to
play.
That 8-0 run was sparked by some good defense and the ability to take
advantage of Twin Valley South mistakes.
Trailing until the 1:36 mark of the third quarter, junior Andrew Johns
hit a trey and the Hawks had their first lead of the night, 26-25.
That shot started a Blackhawk rally as Perkins added a 3-pointer with
54.6 second left in the frame and then it was and senior Colyn Nelson
hitting inside to put Mississinawa Valley up 31-25 entering the fourth
quarter.
For just over 22 minutes, it was the Hawks defense that kept the home
team in the game.
“We played good defense the first half,” Barga said. “Four games
ago we gave up nine points… 10 points the game after that and 12 points
the game after that. What, 16 or 19 in this game. You can’t beat that.”
With everything going in favor of the Hawks in the third quarter, it
all came unraveled in the fourth
Twin Valley South started the period with a Mike Meyers basket to pull
within four at 31-27.
The Panthers continued to chip away at the Hawks defense and would
eventually take the lead for good when Jacob Bassler would hit a bucket
and connect from the foul line giving South a slim 33-32 advantage.
It was Bassler that would account for 12 points in a 14-2 fourth
quarter run.
Bowman’s final basket came with just 24 seconds left as he forced a
turnover off a Twin Valley South inbound and drove in to score and give
MV a 42-41 lead.
It came down to silly mistakes and turnovers the spelled doom for the
Hawks on this night.
“There were numerous mistakes throughout the game that contributed to
the loss, Barga said. “We had turnovers, and that right there caused
(Bassler) to get shots off. We missed foul shots. That caused things
right there. We had an inbounds play that we had a layup on, and I
don’t know what happened on that … we wasn’t looking. That was a set
play. I’d say turnover after turnover.”
Sophomore Ethan Bowman led the Hawks with 20 points but had little help
fro the rest of the team.
Nelson chipped in with eight but the seniors didn't help as Barga would
have liked.
"We have no leader on this team," said Barga. "We're still looking for
a leader."
See more photos of this game at Facebook Empowering Darke County Youth
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