The Mid-Prairie boys and girls basketball teams hit the floor Tuesday in Van Horne for their first doubleheader of the season and came home from the long trip with a split. The Mid-Prairie girls faced a ranked road test from the top five Bobcats and fell 66-43. Benton came out firing on offense, holding a 15-7 lead after the first frame, but Mid-Prairie used a 9-3 run in the second quarter to stay within 29-23 at half. The No. 5 Bobcats made their move in the third, outscoring Mid-Prairie 22-10 in the period, and would put the game away with a 15-10 margin in the fourth. Benton did their damage from downtown, knocking down a total of 13 three pointers, four each for Jenna Twedt and McKenna Kramer with three for Emma Townsley. The Bobcats won the turnover battle 18-10 and outrebounded the Hawks by five. Amara Jones led Mid-Prairie with 13 points, Landry Pacha had 10 and Kylie Reinier just missed a double double with nine points and eight boards. The Golden Hawks are now 1-1 on the year and host Anamosa Friday.

The Mid-Prairie boys came alive in the second half of their season opener to erase a big deficit and take a 71-66 win. Benton stormed out to a 17-5 run that lasted the entire first frame, stretched that to as many as 16 in the first half and led 33-21 at the break. After trailing on the scoreboard, glass and turnover margin in the first half, Mid-Prairie followed this season’s moniker and unleashed chaos when they came out of the locker room for the second half. They outscored the Bobcats 50-33 after the break. The Hawks strung together 11 straight points in the third, winning the period by 12 and tying to the game going to the fourth. Mid-Prairie showed toughness down the stretch with Benton drilling seven fourth quarter threes, the Hawks didn’t wilt, putting up 26 of their own to preserve the win. After the game, head coach Daren Lambert recognized his individual standouts, key stats and what he learned about his team in the opener. “We were playing a little timid in the first half. We were giving up offensive rebounds. We weren’t attacking off the dribble. We were much tougher in the second half. We were a lot more physical. We matched their intensity and then rose above it. I’m proud of our guys and the resiliency that they showed to finish the game out. Alex (Bean) along with Camron (Pickard), it’s great to see them elevate and be champions in their roles tonight. Things weren’t going well in that first half. They’re our leaders. They put the team on their back. Dylan Henry played well on both sides of the ball. He shot the ball well extremely well tonight and defensively he was very active, very long. Beau Flynn did a great job, eight rebounds, Shawn Dodds had six. Those guys did a great job protecting the rim. We got 16 team assists. I knew we were tough but you gotta put yourself in tough situations. We had guys that were resilient tonight.”

The Hawks outrebounded Benton by eight in the second half, and forced 11 turnovers after the break. Alex Bean had a game high 23, 20 of those after intermission. Dylan Henry joined him in double figures with 16, 11 after half and Camron Pickard got to double digits with 10, seven after half. Mid-Prairie is now 1-0 this year and travels to Northeast Goose Lake Saturday.