BARNEVELD – Barneveld hadn’t had a game since falling to Black Hawk just six days earlier, but with all the hoopla surrounding their fifth annual “Pink” cancer awareness fundraiser the Golden Eagles had a lot more on their minds than the Warriors during the past week.
    However, once Friday’s Showdown Part II with the Warriors tipped-off, the Eagles were all business.
    For all the charity that was going on outside Barneveld’s gym, there was little going on inside of it by Jim Myers’ Eagles as they forged a tie atop the Six Rivers East standings and put an end to Black Hawk’s 33-game conference winning streak with a dominating 52-32 prep girls’ basketball victory at BHS on Feb. 17 
    “Barneveld is such a tough place to play any time a team goes there, and the atmosphere was even more intense with all of the extra activities going on. Plain and simple, we did not make enough plays to win, specifically in the paint,” said Black Hawk head coach Mike Flanagan. “I felt, and this is evidenced by our shot chart, that we created scoring opportunities in the middle, but we struggled to convert. Compound that with some lapses at the other end of the floor, and the result is not pretty.”
    Black Hawk (17-2 overall, 9-1 in SRE) grabbed its first and only lead of the night at 2-1 with 6:08 to play in the opening quarter on a basket by senior Kate Quinn, but the #6-ranked Eagles (17-2, 9-1) charged back with 10 unanswered points to open up an 11-2 advantage.
    Sophomore guard Jen Wellnitz, who was held scoreless in the first quarter, did all she could to rally her team in the second stanza, scoring nine points during an 11-3 rally that brought the #4-ranked Warriors even with the hosts at 16 apiece, but the Eagles had an answer once more.
    A free throw by McKenzie Sporle and a 3-pointer by Hailey Cannoy kicked off a 10-2 run by Barneveld to close the first half and the Warriors never recovered.
    Senior Heidi Chapman netted seven of her 11 points in the third quarter to counter Wellnitz’s nine-point effort in the period as the hosts opened up a double-digit advantage, while freshman Rachel Slaney scored all 13 of her points in the second half to secure the Eagles first victory over Black Hawk since 2009.
    Ironically, it was in this same gym three years ago to the day, when the Lady Warriors lost that game to the Eagles and that also happened to be their last lost to any conference opponent until Friday. And, in that game, the Warriors also allowed 52 points.
    “They extended their half-court pressure, which meant fewer open shots from the perimeter. They also played more physically on defense than in the first meeting, and we did not finish well with contact. Offensively, they used some ball-screen action that was not present in the first game, and we got caught out of position with our help-side defenders,” Flanagan noted.
    Wellnitz finished with a game-high 18 points, four rebounds and three assists. Kayla Meier added five points and eight rebounds, while Katie Powers scored five points and Chaesta Shager had two steals.
    At Albany, on Saturday, Feb. 18, senior center Kate Quinn had a monster night, recording a double-double with a career-high 20 points and 15 rebounds- 13 offensive- to lead the Lady Warriors over the host Comets, 48-39, in a make-up game from Feb. 9.
    The Warriors didn’t have a lot of time to lick their wounds after Friday’s tough loss to Barneveld as they returned to the court just 24 hours later to face the Comets (0-10, 4-15).
    Black Hawk started off strong, doubling up the hosts in the opening quarter, 20-10, then they fought to maintain their lead the rest of the night.
    “Well, we were fortunate that we did not have to wait long to compete again. We looked tired and played sloppy, but we played a lot of kids and found a way to win,” said Coach Mike Flanagan. “We took advantage of some defensive overplays and dominated the offensive glass.”
    Jen Wellnitz poured in 16 points along with six assists, while Kayla Meier added eight points, six rebounds and three steals.
    At South Wayne, on Tuesday, Feb. 14, Black Hawk flexed their defensive muscles and used a balanced scoring attack to turn away the Pecatonica Vikings, 48-14, in a St. Valentine’s Day affair.
    The Warriors limited the Vikings (3-17, 1-9) to five points or less in each quarter on the defensive end, while six players scored six points or more on offense to fuel the rout.
    “The game against Pec was a fun one just because so many kids contributed. We had good balance scoring, and every kid defended extremely well,” Coach Mike Flanagan said.
    Black Hawk led 15-3 at the end of the first quarter and 29-5 at halftime before putting the game on cruise control in the second half.
    Mikayla Sigafus came off the bench to lead the Warriors with nine points and she added four rebounds, two steals and two assists. Abby Schiferl also tallied a season-high seven points for Black Hawk.
    Kate Quinn and Katie Powers added eight points apiece. Kayla Meier contributed seven points, nine rebounds and three assists, and Jen Wellnitz chipped in with six points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
    Black Hawk hosts Argyle on Thursday, Feb. 23.

Black Hawk….   5  13  11    3 - 32
Barneveld…… 13  13  16  10 - 52
Leading Scorers: Jen Wellnitz 18, Kayla Meier 5, Katie Powers 5, Kate Quinn 2, Mikayla Sigafus 2.

Pecatonica…..   3    2    4   5 - 14
Black Hawk…. 15  14  11   8 - 48
Leading Scorers: Mikayla Sigafus 9, Kate Quinn 8, Katie Powers 8, Kayla Meier 7, Abby Schiferl 7, Jen Wellnitz 6, Chaesta Shager 3.

Black Hawk….  20    8  14   6 - 48
Albany…..…… 10  10  10   9 - 39
Leading Scorers: Kate Quinn 20, Jen Wellnitz 16, Kayla Meier 8, Chaesta Shager 4.