The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams travel to West Branch Friday to open the second half of their season against the Bears.
The Mid-Prairie boys ended 2018 with an overall record of 5-4. They were beaten in their final game before the holidays 64-50 by Northeast Goose Lake. Tom Butters led the Golden Hawks in the loss with a double double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. For the season the Hawks are led by Cale Robertson at 13 points per game, ninth best in the River Valley Conference. Brad Tornow leads the Golden Hawks, the RVC and is eighth in class 2A with 49 assists. Butters has the team lead for the Hawks and is second in the RVC south with 88 rebounds.
West Branch comes into play with an overall record of 8-2. The Bears dropped their final game before Christmas to Camanche 81-57. Beau Cornwell and Ted Bridges each had 20 points in the loss. For the season, Cornwell leads the Bears and is second in the River Valley South with 18 points per game. His 33 assists are best on the team and second in the RVC. He also leads the Bears with 86 rebounds, third in the RVC. These two teams met twice last year with the Bears sweeping the season series 68-59 in West Branch and 71-34 in Wellman.
The Mid-Prairie girls basketball team entered Christmas break with an overall record of 7-3. They knocked off Northeast Goose Lake in their last game of 2018 by a 65-38 score. The Golden Hawks were led by Shae Becker’s double double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. On the season, Becker leads Mid-Prairie, scoring 14 points per game, sixth in the River Valley Conference. Becker also leads the Golden Hawks on the glass with 64 total boards, eighth in the RVC. Kessa Jones is best on the team and eighth in the conference with 22 assists.
West Branch is 9-2 and riding a three game winning streak coming into the contest. The Bears are currently ranked No. 13 in the latest poll in class 2A from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. They beat Camanche 46-34 last time out, behind 16 points from Sasha Koenig. On the season West Branch is led by Koenig, at 16 points per game, third in the River Valley Conference South. She also leads the team, the RVC and is seventh in class 2A with 55 assists. Kaiya Luneckas is the team leader, best in the River Valley Conference and ninth in class 2A with 98 rebounds. These two teams met twice a season ago with the Bears sweeping the series 54-50 in West Branch and 33-22 in Wellman. Action begins tonight at 6p.m. at West Branch High School.