The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys basketball team stretched their winning streak to four on Monday night with a 53-46 win over Northeast Goose Lake in Wellman. The Golden Hawks rode strong, physical defense early to an 11-9 lead after the first quarter. Northeast turned the tables on the Hawks by putting together a 12-0 run that coincided with a five minute Mid-Prairie scoring drought and three straight Rebel three pointers to take a 23-19 lead into the half. Northeast still held that four point advantage at 37-33 going to the fourth quarter. Mid-Prairie made their move at the start of the final frame, putting together a 15-4 run to take a lead they would not give back. After the game, Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert highlighted his team’s toughness, physicality and individual performances. “There were moments in time where we could have easily folded, mentally, physically. At times we got a little shaky, but in the end good teams, grind it out, find a way and that’s what we did. Good teams we face are going to hit shots. We preach and preach that we are going to face adversity and how we respond to it is going to decide who wins and loses the game. Will we shut the run off at 12-0 or will we let it get to 16 or 18? Very pleased with our response tonight. It was a physical game. Pleased with how we closed it out on the glass. Aidan Rath came up big with eight points. He is a force, did a great job defending, coming up with big rebounds and protecting the rim. Alex Bean did a great job hitting some timely and tough shots. That’s why he’s out there, he’s a shooter.  He’s put in a lot of work to knock those down.”

The Golden Hawks got 18 points, including five three point goals from Alex Bean, Carter Harmsen added 12 points. Mid-Prairie outrebounded the Rebels by seven and forced 14 Northeast giveaways while committing 11 turnovers themselves. Mid-Prairie is now 4-1 on the season and back on the court Tuesday when they host the Wilton Beavers.