SOUTH WAYNE – Mike Flanagan may have some concerns about the way his undefeated Black Hawk girls’ basketball team has started off their games so far this season, but the Warriors’ head coach can have no complaints about the way his squad kicked off Thursday’s Six Rivers Conference Eastern Division game against Albany.
    Flanagan’s Warriors pasted the first 14 points on the scoreboard and held the visiting Comets scoreless for over seven minutes at the start of the game to roll to a resounding 39-18 victory at BHHS on Dec. 22.
    Black Hawk trailed at the end of the first quarter in three of their first five games, and the only time they led after one period in any of those games they were ahead by just one point.
    That all changed on Thursday when the Lady Warriors (6-0 overall, 2-0 in SRE) hit their first two shots from the field and first two free throws in the opening minute and a half to build a quick 7-0 advantage, then they added seven more points over the next five minutes to go on top 14-0.
    The Comets (1-7, 0-3), on the other hand, missed their first eight shots from the field and turned the ball over four times before Cassidy Bump finally scored with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter to get them off the schneid.
    But, by then, the game was firmly in Black Hawk’s control.
    Albany got as close as 16-8 midway through the second quarter, however the Warriors netted the final eight points of the half to take a 24-8 lead into the intermission, and the hosts tacked another four points onto that lead in the third quarter when they outscored the Comets by an 11-7 margin to open up a 35-15 advantage.
    Flanagan, who went to his bench liberally throughout the night, left it up to his backups to finish off the Comets in the fourth quarter and they did the job by holding the guests to just three points in the final period to run away with a 21-point decision.
    Sophomore Jen Wellnitz tallied six of her game-high 10 points in the first quarter and she finished with four steals, three assists and three rebounds to lead the Warriors on the night.
    Senior guard Katie Powers knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on her way to nine points and added four rebounds, three assists and two steals, and senior forward Kate Quinn chipped in with six boards, five points and three steals. Senior Kayla Meier added six points for Black Hawk.
    Bump finished with nine points to pace Albany.
    Next up, Black Hawk hosts Darlington in a non-conference game on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Albany…...….    2    6    7   3 - 18
Black Hawk…  14  10  11   4 - 39
Leading Scorers: Jen Wellnitz 10, Katie Powers 9, Kayla Meier 6, Kate Quinn 5, Kelly Neuenschwander 3, Chaesta Shager 2, Abby Schiferl 2, Brittany Klemm 2.