The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks hosted the Wilton Beavers for a River Valley Conference basketball doubleheader Tuesday night at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman. The Mid-Prairie boys extended their winning streak to five with a 61-44 victory over the visiting Beavers. The Hawks put up 22 points in the first quarter, led by 15 from Carter Harmsen. Mid-Prairie held a 12 point advantage after the first and were up eight at the break 30-22. They outscored Wilton 31-22 after halftime to cruise to the victory. After the game, head coach Daren Lambert talked about his team’s night. “Harmsen is one of those scorers that, when it starts like that as an opposing coach you know you have your work cut out for you trying to slow him down. Our goal tonight was to put pressure on them. They are a team statistically that tends to turn the ball over and we wanted to get extra possessions and execute offensively. Also dominating the glass helps us get those extra possessions and cuts down on their chances. Things like forcing turnovers and getting rebounds are the extra effort plays and we like to hang out hat on doing the little things to be successful.”

The Golden Hawks forced 26 Wilton turnovers and outrebounded the Beavers by 15. Harmsen led the way for the Hawks, going for 33 points, the third time on this season he has passed the 30 point barrier. With the win, Mid-Prairie is now 5-1 on the season.

The Golden Hawk girls saw their comeback effort fall short, with the Beavers getting the road win 47-45. Mid-Prairie jumped on Wilton early, opening the game on a 7-1 run before the Beavers closed the first on a 16-3 run to take a lead they would not give up the rest of the night. The Wilton cushion was 21-13 after one quarter and 32-23 at half. They kept Mid-Prairie at arms length with a 40-33 lead going to the fourth. In the final frame, the Hawks chipped away, and pulled within 47-45 with 17 seconds left. Following a Wilton turnover, Mid-Prairie had the ball with a chance to tie or win the game, but the Beaver defense blocked two shots to secure the win. The Golden Hawks were led by 15 points from Phelan Hostetler. Myah Lugar added 12. The Beavers won the battle on the glass by 10, forced 21 Mid-Prairie turnovers and shot 16 more free throws than Mid-Prairie. With the loss, the Golden Hawks fall back to .500 at 5-5. The Mid-Prairie boys and girls will travel to West Branch Friday.