The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks earned a doubleheader split with the West Branch Bears to open up Cedar Valley Conference Play Tuesday night.
In a game heard on KCII, the opener saw the Mid-Prairie girls hang on for a 32-31 win. The game was back and forth during the first half before Mid-Prairie took a 24-17 lead behind back-to-back threes from Erika Murphy and Olivia Lugar. West Branch would answer with a run to lead 31-26 going to the final three minutes. The Golden Hawks would get another clutch three from Lugar who gave Mid Prairie the lead with a free throw with 19 seconds left. The Bears missed a shot that could have won it in the final seconds. Lugar led the way for Mid-Prairie with 10 points, Murphy had 8. Mid-Prairie is now .500 on the season at 1-1 with #8 Mediapolis coming up on Thursday.
In the boys contest Mid-Prairie jumped out to a 9-2 lead early, West Branch regained the lead by the end of the first quarter at 17-14 and led 31-27 at halftime. It was all Bears in the second half, pulling out a 58-38 win over the Golden Hawks. In a game heard on KCII, the Golden Hawks struggled offensively after their hot start due to some rushed shots and good West Branch defense. The Bears leaned on all conference forward Rylan Murry who led all scorers with 28 points. Mid-Prairie was led by a Jaemin Powell’s 13 points and Spencer Shalla had a nice night off the bench with 8. With the loss the Golden Hawks fall to 0-2 on the season and will next be in action Thursday against Mediapolis.