The Mid-Prairie boys and girls basketball teams kicked off the new season Tuesday when they hosted the Tipton Tigers at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman.
The Golden Hawk girls came away with a win in the first contest of the night 58-52. Tipton held a 10-7 lead midway through the first quarter but the Hawks erased that advantage with a 7-0 run and wouldn’t trail again the rest of the night, leading 17-10 after one quarter and 27-24 at the half.
Despite holding a lead for the duration of the game, Tipton kept things tight until the final four minutes when Mid-Prairie extended their lead to as large as 14 to put the contest out of reach.
The Golden Hawks were led by Phelan Hostetler who finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots. Shae Becker also got to double figures with 10. The win is Mid-Prairie’s 13th in a row over the Tigers and gives the Hawks a 1-0 start to the season.
In the boys contest, Mid-Prairie was again plagued by their old nemesis Logan Hoffman, who put on a show for those in attendance, scoring a career high 41 points to lead Tipton to an 81-62 win. Over his career Hoffman has averaged 17 points per game against Mid-Prairie, including a 23 point per game average in contests he has started and he has scored at least 30 points in his last three games against the Golden Hawks. Tipton started hot, leading 24-12 after one quarter and the Tigers held a 42-22 lead at the half.
In the second half Tipton would extend the lead as far as 27 points. Behind hot outside shooting from Ryan Slabaugh who led Mid-Prairie with 16 points, including four three point goals, the Golden Hawks would get as close as 18 but never put together a run to seriously threaten the Tigers.
Dominick Pickard also got to double figures for Mid-Prairie with 11. With the loss the Golden Hawks fall to 0-1 on the season. Mid-Prairie will next be in action Friday when they host Northeast Goose Lake.