Since a snow-out in January, the anticipation has built around the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks makeup game with Monticello, and now the day is here, and the stakes, are high.

The Golden Hawks come into the contest 20-0 and ranked No. 2 in class 2A in the final poll of the season from the Iowa Associated Press. Mid-Prairie has clinched the River Valley south division title. That winning streak is one shy of the longest in school history and best start to a season in program history with 21-0 reached by the 1991 Golden Hawks. Mid-Prairie was a big winner Tuesday, dominating Durant 74-46. Jack Pennington led the way with 20 points on a perfect nine of nine from the field. Carter Harmsen had 14 points, Ethan Kos 13 on six of six shooting and Alex Bean 10. On the year, Mid-Prairie leads the River Valley South scoring 64 points per game, their 43 points allowed per outing is the seventh best in 2A, their 47% field goal percentage is 10th in 2A and their 34% three point percentage is 10th in 2A. They average 31 rebounds, 14 assists, and nine steals per night. Harmsen leads the Hawks at 21 points and eight rebounds per game, both marks second in the RVC south. Jack Pennington has a team best four assists per game.

Monticello is 18-2 on the year, 17-1, champions of the RVC north. They are seventh in this week’s AP poll. They beat Camanche on Tuesday 53-40 with Preston Ries going double double with 23 points and 15 boards. Tate Petersen had 15. The Panthers are scoring 61 points per game, best in the north, shooting 47% from the floor, 10th in 2A, 34% from three, ninth in 2A, and 70% at the line, fourth in 2A. They average 27 rebounds, 17 assists, ninth in 2A and nine steals. Individually, Peterson scores a team best 19 per game, leading the north division. His six assists per game are fourth in the state. This week, Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert talked about the anticipation for the game and his keys “We’ve spent this year staying focused on the next game. Like we talked about after West Branch, Monticello isn’t a big game if we didn’t take care of business Tuesday against Durant. I know a lot of other people just talking in the community have been excited and talking about this game. Referees and other coaches have been asking me when it’s going to be made up. We all know what is there tonight and we all want those things. Like I told our guys, they have earned this opportunity with their hard work. What more do you want at the end of the year than to be playing in a game that means so much and everyone is talking about? It’s going to be one of those games where it all comes down to the little things, who defends better, who takes care of the basketball, we talk about winning each possession, every game. The team that tends to do that usually puts themselves in a good position at the end of the night.”

Monticello has won eight of the 11 all-time meetings including a 48-29 victory in Monticello last season. A Mid-Prairie win would give them the outright overall River Valley Conference title, a Panther win gives them a share of the title with the Hawks. Mid-Prairie has not won a conference crown since a Cedar Valley Championship in 2009. You can hear all of the action live tonight between the No. 2 Golden Hawks and No. 7 Panthers on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee Pregame Show at 7p.m. and tip at 7:30 in Wellman.