The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks hosted the rival Runnin’ Regals of Iowa City Regina on Tuesday in Wellman for a River Valley Conference boy/girl basketball doubleheader.
In a pair of games heard on KCII, the Golden Hawk girls snapped a seven game losing streak to Regina with a 51-44 win. Mid-Prairie stormed out of the gate, holding Regina scoreless through the game’s first 11 minutes, building a 17-0 lead. The Hawks were up 26-13 at the half. In the second half, Regina employed pressure and turned the Golden Hawks over, mounting several runs, but would not get closer than seven points down the stretch as Mid-Prairie got enough from the floor and the line to hold on for the win. After the game, Mid-Prairie head coach Stephen Bender talked about the victory. “I love that start, I wish we could bottle it up and use it every time. One of our keys was to get out to a good start. I thought we did a great job of contesting Regina on the floor. Myah Lugar shot the ball well tonight, she had a big game for us offensively. I thought Shae Becker also had a nice solid game for us too. When they pressured us our youth showed up a little bit. We just need to slow down. I told the girls it’s great to beat them, we haven’t beaten them in a while and to get to 4-0, but it doesn’t feel as good as it would have if we played well in the second half. It still feels really good, but it would have felt a lot better. I told them the good news is we beat them not playing our best.”
Maya Lugar led Mid-Prairie with 17 points. She was five of eight from beyond the arc. Shae Becker added 13 points and nine rebounds. The Mid-Prairie girls remain unbeaten at 4-0.
The Golden Hawk boys hung with Regina for a half but the Regals pulled away late for a 61-40 win. The two teams seesawed back and forth in the first half, with neither holding a lead of more than four. Regina led 16-13 after one frame and 27-23 at the half. Out of the break, Mid-Prairie scored the first five points to take a 28-27 lead, that would be their final lead of the night. Over the final 14 minutes of the game the Regals outscored the Hawks 34-11 in closing out the win. Cale Robertson led the Golden Hawks with nine points, Ethan Trimpe had eight. Mid-Prairie is now 1-2 on the year.