A long road trip to a tough venue awaits the Mid-Prairie boys and girls basketball teams Thursday when they travel north to Cascade to meet the Cougars in a River Valley Conference doubleheader. The Golden Hawk girls are 3-2 on the year and have been off since a Friday win at North Cedar 58-16. They were led by 23 points from Maddie Nonnenmann and 11 for Amara Jones. On the year, Mid-Prairie is scoring 51 points per game, 10th best in 3A with a 39% field goal mark, also 10th in the state. The Golden Hawks are sixth in 3A in offensive rebounding and fifth in steals. Individually, they are led by Nonnenmann and Jones each scoring 13 points per game. Nonnenmann has the team lead with six boards per game and Jones leads the guard court with four assists and four steals per night.
Cascade comes into the game at 5-1 on the season, following a 70-17 win over North Cedar Tuesday. The Cougars are ranked No. 6 in class 2A in this week’s poll from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. They have the best scoring defense in 2A, allowing only 23 points per game. They score 51 points per game. Ally Hoffman and Alyssa Lux lead the way, each averaging double figures at 12 and 10 points respectively. Hoffman pulls down eight boards per game and Molly Rolling averages five steals and four assists per night. Cascade has won seven of the last eight meetings in this series with the Hawks only victory by a 48-37 score in 2016.
The Golden Hawk boys are unbeaten at 4-0 on the young season and receiving votes in this week’s 2A poll from the Associated Press. They were runaway winners at North Cedar Friday 62-28. Mid-Prairie has the 10th best scoring offense in the state at 61 point per game, coupled with the seventh best scoring defense, allowing just 33 per contest. Mid-Prairie is also seventh in 2A on the glass with 35 rebounds per game. They are led by Carter Harmsen’s 18 points and nine rebounds per night. Ethan Kos and Alex Bean are also scoring double figures, each at 11 points per game. Jack Pennington leads the guard court with five assists and two steals per night.
The Cascade boys have struggled to a 1-5 start. Their lone win came Tuesday over North Cedar 39-37. They score the ninth fewest points per game in 2A at 36. They are led by Cole McDermott’s 16 points a night. He also has a team best seven boards per outing. Justin Roling averages five assists and two steals per night. Cascade has won six of seven in the all-time series with Mid-Prairie’s only win coming by a 50-40 score last year. This week, Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert talked about his team’s recent play. “We speed teams up, force them into a quick shot and make sure that’s the only one they get on that possession. We have great shooters ourselves and our offense plays well and can put up points, but even on night’s when the shots aren’t falling this team is dedicated to finding another way to get the job done. I’m pleased with how they respond to adversity. They aren’t just about how many points did I get. A lot of times the questions are how many rebounds did I get? That’s just the mentality you have to have as a team. These guys want to do great things this year. As long as we keep that mental focus and competing, I feel like we can do it.”
You can hear all of the action live tonight between the Cougars and Hawks live from Cascade High School on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee Pregame Show at 5:30 with tip of the girls game at six with the boys to follow.