The Mid-Prairie boys and girls basketball teams entertain the rival Iowa City Regina Regals tonight in a River Valley Conference doubleheader at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman. The Golden Hawk girls come into the matchup with a record of 2-1 after a dismantling of Tipton Friday 57-20. Maddie Nonnenmann scored 11 and Amara Jones and Landry Pacha 10 each in the win. On the season, the Hawks score 51 per game, give up 39 per game, shoot 39% from the floor 33% from long range, and 44% at the line. They average 28 rebounds, 14 assists, 16 steals and 14 turnovers per night. Individually, Jones and Nonnenmann are both averaging double figures at 13 and 10 points per game respectively. Nonnenmann leads the team with seven boards per night and Jones averages four steals and four assists per outing.
Iowa City Regina is 2-1 this season with wins over Wilton and Tipton before a Monday loss at Mount Vernon 53-50 where they were led by Grace Gaarde’s 12 points. On the year, they are scoring 55 per game, giving up 45, shooting 38% from the floor 24% from three, and 64% at the line. They average 25 rebounds, 14 assists, 15 steals, and 14 turnovers per game. Individually, the Regals are paced by a trio in double figures with Gaarde at 14 per game and Morgan Miller and Lily Simpson at 13 each. Simpson has the team lead with nine rebounds and five steals per game while Gaarde and Miller each have four assists per night. This week, Mid-Prairie head coach Danny Hershberger talked about the keys to a rivalry win. “Regina plays a similar style to us. They want to get up and down the court they want to get fast break points. We know that they are going to be aggressive on defense. They are going to trap, we have to handle that and their physicality on that end of the floor.”
Regina has won five straight in the series and 13 of the last 14 with the Hawks last victory coming in 2018.
The Mid-Prairie boys are 2-0 this year after blasting through West Liberty and Tipton to start the season. They beat the Tigers in Wellman Friday 60-35 behind a 17 points 12 rebound double double from Carter Harmsen. On the season, Mid-Prairie is scoring 63 per game, giving up 28, shooting 44% from the floor, 32% from long range and 58% at the line. The Hawks average 45 rebounds, 15 assists, eight steals and 11 turnovers per night. Individually, Mid-Prairie is led by the all-stater Harmsen at 17 points and nine rebounds per night. Jack Pennington has the team lead at four assists per game and two steals per night.
Iowa City Regina is 1-1 this year after splitting games with Wilton and Tipton so far. In the Regal loss to the Beavers on Friday, Nolan McDonald and Michael Martin each had 13 points. For the year, the Regals are putting up 51 points per game, giving up 57, shooting 34% from the floor, 31% from distance, and 62% at the line. They average 30 rebounds, 10 assists, five steals and 14 turnovers per night. Individually, they are led by McDonald at 13 points per game. Carter Leick has five rebounds per night, Carson Jensen a team best three assists per game and Jensen and Cameron Lehman each average two steals. Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert spoke this week with KCII about preparing for Regina. “They are going to give us their best shot, especially because we got them twice last year. We are going to have a target on our back all year, and we earned that target. We accept it and the expectations of this season with the year we had last year and who we brought back. We’re going to see every teams best shot night in and night out. We’re going to have to stay disciplined. I would like to see us start faster on offense and build on our work so far on the defensive end.”
Mid-Prairie swept the season series with the Regals a year ago, picking up their first wins against Regina since 2010 and snapping a 22 game losing streak. You can hear all of the action tonight between the Regals and the Hawks live on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee Pregame Show at 5:30, tip of the girls game at six with the boys to follow from Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman.