Another hot start and stellar defensive effort allowed Mid-Prairie to overwhelm visiting CMB in regional semifinal action Wednesday night and post a 59-39 win. Mid-Prairie roared out of the gate for the second straight game, scoring the first 12 points and holding a 19-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. Following the game Head Coach Marc Pennington spoke about his team’s start and defensive effort.

“First couple minutes we got off to a great start, that’s two games in a row that we’ve done that,” Pennington said. “The second quarter wasn’t our best, but I thought the second half we kept the pedal down and they didn’t get any good looks the second half so give our defense a lot of credit and give our kids full court and half court a lot of credit, it was a great team win.”

The Lady Raiders put together a 10-3 run in the second quarter and trailed by 10 at the half. They would get as close as six in the third quarter before the Hawks put the game out of reach with a 14-3 run that continued into the final period. Mid-Prairie was led on the night by Mallory McArtor’s 14 points. Mariah Swartzentruber added 13 for the Hawks. After the game McArtor talked about her team’s offensive focus and her move of the night when she hung in the air going up and under CMB Center Abbie Haupert..

“We just tried really moving the ball around, if I saw a shot open I would take it,” McArtor said. “That little move down there, I don’t know what happened, but thank goodness it went in.”

With the win Mid-Prairie is now 17-6 on the year and will play for the first state tournament berth since 2004 on Saturday night when they take on the surprising Williamsburg Raiders who upset #6 Mediapolis on the road last night 66-60 in overtime. You can hear the regional final between #13 Mid-Prairie and Williamsburg live Saturday night on KCIIradio.com with pregame at 6:30 and tip off at 7. The game will be delayed broadcast on AM and FM KCII following the Washington girls regional game.