It’s a road date to start the year for the Mid-Prairie girls basketball team when they travel to Fairfield to take on the Trojans Tuesday. The Hawks are coming off of a season that saw them finish 15-9 overall and 12-7 in the River Valley Conference for fourth place. The Golden Hawks were knocked out of the playoffs in the regional finals by Davenport Assumption. A year ago, they averaged 47 points per game while giving up 42, shooting 37% from the floor, 27% from downtown and 53% at the line with 29 rebounds, 12 assists, 12 steals and 14 turnovers per night. The Hawks lost two seniors to graduation a year ago including Maddie Nonnenmann who led the team at 16 points per game. She ended her career with 1,066 points, fourth in school history and averaged five boards, two steals, two assists and a block per night. Cana Rediger also departed through graduation after averaging three points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal per night. Amara Jones is the leading returner. As a junior, she scored 10 per game to go with five boards, four assists, and four steals. The Hawks have played two scrimmages to prepare for tonight, winning over Pekin in Packwood 33-14 and falling to WACO in Wayland 58-55.

Fairfield also opens the new year tonight. They finished last season 13-9 overall, 6-4, third in the Southeast Conference. Last year they averaged 50 points per game and gave up 39. They shot 38% from the floor, 31% from downtown and 61% at the line. They pulled down 30 rebounds to go along with 10 assists, 11 steals and 15 turnovers per night. The Trojans were gutted by graduation last year, losing their top five scorers and top six rebounders, stealers and assisters. Leading returner on the scoresheet is Savannah Hollander who finished with three points per game as a sophomore, with one rebound and one assist. Fairfield has had one scrimmage on November 17th to prepare for tonight. This week, Mid-Prairie head coach Danny Hershberger talked about what has him most excited about the upcoming year. “Just how well they get along. That’s huge. They genuinely like hanging out with one another. Anytime you have that, good things can happen. The way they compete in practice. They get after it. They have fun but they are serious and getting better at the same time.”

Fairfield has won three straight in the series and four of the last six including a 63-42 victory a season ago. You can hear all of the action live tonight between the Hawks and Trojans from Fairfield High School, beginning with the Washington HyVee Pregame Show at 7p.m. and tip at 7:30.