Crawford also dished out a team high 11 assists while Hermsen led the Hawks in rebounding with 11.

Austin Cole had a good night for the Hawks, he had 6 points on three for four shooting from the floor and was second in assists with a season high 10.

In the first meeting with the Sailors the Hawks had just 14 total assists.

The Hawks were able to take control of the game right from the start as they led 21-11 at the end of the first quarter and 34-25 at the half.

West Delaware held a 28-23 scoring advantage in the second half to win by a final margin of 14 points, 62-48.

The Hawks shot an even 50% from two point range, making 19 of 38. They also converted on 6 of 8 free throws. Their floor game was as outstanding as their shooting with just 8 turnovers and 10 fouls.

The West Delaware girls who moved up; to the number 11 ranked team in Class 3A last week put together a good week on the hardwood.

They started out with a big win over once beaten WaMaC Conference leader, Waterloo Columbus in Manchester, 47-46 on an Emily Heffernen jumper with four seconds left in the game.

The Hawks had lost an 18-point game, 54-36, to the Sailors in Waterloo.

The game was one of big shots, scoring runs, and outstanding defense.

Senior Katie Wessels scored the Hawks first eight points of the game on two field goals and four free throws as West Delaware got out the an 8-5 lead.

The Hawks were able to maintain the lead throughout the rest of the first quarter thanks to the scoring of Wessels and junior Emily Heffernen. The two combined for all 17 of the Hawks first quarter points, Wessels with 12 and Heffernen with 5.

The second quarter was more of a struggle offensively for the Hawks as Columbus raced back into the game and took a 27-20 lead with nearly two minutes to go before half time.

The Hawks Jenny Hood connected on a long three pointer at the 1:36 mark to cut the Sailor lead to four points. Sister, Ashley Hood bombed in a three pointer of her own at the 1:03 mark to cut the Columbus lead to a single point, 27-26.

With the clock winding down in the first half Jenny Hood hit her second straight three point basket with a mere three seconds left on the clock to give the Hawks a 29-27 half time lead.

Those were three big shots, a nice 9-0 scoring run and some great defense to hold the Sailors with out a point for nearly the last two minutes of the first half.

Columbus proved why they are ranked near the top 10 in Class 2A as they came out in the third quarter and erased the Hawk lead and replaced it with a two point lead of their own, 35-33, by quarters end.

The Hawks went nearly four and a half minutes in the third quarter without scoring. Sam Conrad’s two free throws just into the third quarter and Katie Wessels basket with 2:07 left in the quarter were the Hawks only points of the third period.

Columbus scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to take a six point lead, 39-33. However, the Hawks went on another scoring run. This time a 10-0 spurt that gave them a 43-39 lead with 4:50 left in the game.

Katie Wessels had a basket and a pair of free throws while Ashley Hood and Jenny Hood both nailed three pointers to account for the 10 straight points.

It was then the Sailors turn, they scored seven straight points to take a 46-43 lead with just 55 seconds left in the game. The Hawks had not scored for nearly four minutes.

Emily Heffernen was fouled with 23.3 seconds left and calmly sank both free throws to pull the Hawks within a single points, 46-45.

The Hawks had the ball with eight seconds left when they called time out to set up the last shot.

With Wessels and the two Hoods closely guarded Heffernen was left free for a 10 footer that hit nothing but net with four seconds left giving the Hawks a huge 47-46 win.

The win pulled them into a first place tie with the Sailors in the WaMaC.

Game stats
vs. Columbus
FT’s: WD 12-15-80%; Individual Hawk scoring: Jenny Hood 9, Emily Heffernen 9, Ashley Hood 6, Katie Wessels 21, Kayla Bries 2.

On Friday night the Hawks traveled to Independence for a conference road contest against the Mustangs.

The Hawks had little trouble with the Mustangs, coming away with a 61-46 victory.

The Hawks trailed at the end of the first quarter 18-16 by scored 20 points in the second quarter while holding Independence to just 10 points to take a 36-28 lead at the half.

The Hawks outscored the Mustangs 25-18 to win by a final margin of 15 points, 61-46.

The Hawks had a balanced scoring attack led by Jenny Hood with 17 points which included four of six shooting from three point range. Sam Conrad tossed in 14 and Emily Heffernen chipped in with 10.

Game stats
vs. Independence
FG’s: WD 23-40-58%, I 18-46-39%; FT’s: WD 7-12-58%, I 9-14-64%; assists: WD 22 (Conrad 2, J. Hood 5, A. Hood 7, Heffernen 2, Allison 1, Bries 5); rebounds: WD 22 (Wessels 5, Conrad 6, J. Hood 2, Heffernen 7, Bries 2); I 23; blocked shots: WD 4 (Conrad 4); steals: WD 9 (Wessels 2, Conrad 1, J. Hood 1, A. Hood 3, Bries 2); turnovers: WD 16, I 16; Individual Hawk scoring: Katie Wessels 8, Sam Conrad 14, Jenny Hood 17, Ashley Hood 6, Emily Heffernen 10, Ashlee Allison 3, Kayla Bries 3.

On Saturday the Hawks took part in Rivalry Saturday at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids where they squared off against WaMaC Conference rival Benton Community.

The Hawks and the Bobcats put on a great show with the Bobcats escaping with a 48-44 victory.

The Hawks got off to a rough start in the first quarter, trailing 14-7 after leading 5-4 with 3:52 remaining.

The Hawks stayed close to the Bobcats during the second quarter but trailed 24-19 with two minutes left before halftime.

It was then that Ashley Hood connected on a pair of three pointers to bring the Hawks to within four points, 26-22 at the half.

The third quarter was a battle right from the opening whistle. The Hawk offense and defense both performed well and they were able to tie the game at 33-33 at the end of the quarter thanks to five straight points by Katie Wessels.

Wessels would lead the Hawks in scoring with 17.

The fourth quarter saw the Hawks claw their way into a 40-37 lead when Emily Heffernen scored with 4:06 left in the game.

The Hawks would manage just four more points over the final four minutes of the game, all from the free throw line by leading scorer Katie Wessels.

With their two conference wins earlier in the week the Hawks had drawn into a tie for the WaMaC Conference lead with Waterloo Columbus. The loss against Benton Community moved them back into second place.

The Hawks overall record stands at a very good 11-3, 9-2 in conference action.

Game stats
vs. Benton Community
FG’s: WD 14-46-30%, BC 19-46-41%; FT’s: WD 11-20-55%, BC 7-18-39%; assists: WD 8 (Wessels 1, J. Hood 2, A. Hood 3, Heffernen 1, Bries 1); rebounds: WD 32 (Wessels 9, Conrad 6, J. Hood 4, A. Hood 2, Heffernen 6, Bries 5); blocked shots: WD 3 (Conrad 3); steals: WD 9 (Wessels 1, J. Hood 2, A. Hood 4, Bries 2); turnovers: WD 19, BC 15; Individual Hawk scoring: Katie Wessels 17, Sam Conrad 9, Jenny Hood 3, Ashley Hood 9, Emily Heffernen 2, Kayla Bries 4.