Photo Courtesy of Hudl

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys basketball team stepped outside of conference play Thursday in Wellman and got all they wanted from a feisty Pekin bunch, eventually prevailing 63-49 in overtime. Mid-Prairie held the early advantage at 12-7 after one quarter and eventually pushed that to nine before Pekin responded with a late first half run to take a 20-18 lead into the break. The Panthers knocked down five threes in the third, nine total for the game, and grew their lead to 11. Mid-Prairie chipped away, getting within four at 37-33 going to the fourth. The final frame featured back and fourth action, with Mid-Prairie taking a brief lead, only to see Pekin go back up 47-44 in the final minute. Down to their last chance to tie in the final 30 seconds, the Hawks missed their first shot, but Camron Pickard kept an offensive rebound alive for Alex Bean who calmly sent the crowd into a frenzy with his game tying long ball with seven seconds to go. That started a Mid-Prairie run that continued into the extra frame after a defense stop. The Hawks would not allow a field goal during overtime, blitzing the Panthers 16-2 to run away with a 14 point win. After the game, Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert talked about his team’s play late, overcoming adversity and cold shooting, and his individual standouts. “Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in the hoop and sometimes that’s on us. I thought we were a little soft going to the rim. We were floating the ball up and trying to avoid contact. It seems like when you can’t hit a basket, the other team is doing the opposite and that’s what happened during the third quarter. To get the lead back, it’s not going to come all in one possession and it’s going to start at the defensive end. We’ve been challenging him (Shawn Dodds) to hit the glass. He can be a good defender and a rebounder, and that’s what we need him to be. I’m very pleased with how he controlled the paint tonight. Brady (Weber) does a good job seeing the floor because he’s a guy that’s always in the right spot. He’s a sophomore and we’ve put a lot on his plate, but he’s answered the call. He hit some free throws toward the end of the game, couple rebounds, had an assist, a steal, overall I’m pleased with his affect on the game. At the end of the day we found a way to win the basketball game so you have to be happy about that.”

Mid-Prairie shot just 28% from the floor, including 18% from three. They did grab 41 rebounds, 19 on the offensive glass, and come up with 21 steals. Shawn Dodds went double double with 11 points and 14 boards. Bean had a game high 23 and Pickard got to double figures with 15. Mid-Prairie is now 4-2 on the year and travels to Durant tonight.