The Mid-Prairie boys and girls basketball teams made the long trip for a makeup double header Monday night with Northeast Goose Lake. In the girls game Mid-Prairie controlled most of the game and withstood a furious rally by the Lady Rebels to win 41-38. The Golden Hawks fell behind 4-0 early but finished the first period on an 11-2 run to take a lead they would not give up until late.

Mid-Prairie used pressure defense to force the Lady Rebels into turnovers that led to easy baskets. Mid-Prairie surrendered just six first half field goals, taking a 19-13 lead into the half. The Golden Hawks stretched the lead out to 14 points midway through the third quarter before the Lady Rebels made their run. Northeast turned up the full court defensive pressure and got aggressive on the offensive end, drawing whistles against Mid-Prairie. Northeast shot 12 more free throws than Mid-Prairie in the second half and climbed within two at 38-36 with around a minute remaining. Addie Oberman and Laikyn Schaefer each hit one of two on their trips to the line to tie the game at 38 with 30 seconds left.

With the game tied the Hawks went inside and found Taylor Kurtz on a post up, drop step move to put them back in front 40-38. Northeast would head to the line on their next trip, missing their first, Kurtz grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and hit one of two free throws to push the lead to 41-38. The Lady Rebels got a three up at the buzzer that was long, giving Mid-Prairie the win. Taylor Kurtz and Alex Rath each had 13 points to lead Mid-Prairie. The Hawks are now 10-8 overall.

In the boys contest, Mid-Prairie played a nice defensive game, forcing turnovers, but were unable to turn those into points, falling 61-51. The first half was very evenly played with Northeast finally gaining some breathing room at 23-16 with one minute to go before the break. Mid-Prairie answered with a 7-0 run including a Spencer Shalla three at the buzzer to tie things going into the locker room.

In the second half Mid-Prairie picked up where they left off as Dayton Hall drained a three pointer to give the Golden Hawks a 26-23 lead. That was the last lead Mid-Prairie would hold in the game as the Golden Hawks suffered through a six minute drought from the field. Mid-Prairie made a couple of fourth quarter pushes but never got the Rebel lead under seven. Following the game Head Coach Chris Kern talked about his teams defensive effort.

“The kids played with a lot of energy tonight, and a relatively good defensive game, but a lot of time, we didn’t capitalize on their mistakes and turnovers,” Kern said.

Spencer Shalla led the way for the Hawks with 14 points. With the loss Mid-Prairie is now 9-10 overall. The Mid-Prairie boys and girls will be back in action tonight when they host Camanche.