In a battle of teams just outside of the Associated Press Class 2A top 10, the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys basketball team scored a 57-55 win over Camanche in the inaugural River Valley Conference Shoot Out Saturday at Johnson Hall on the campus of Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids. In a game heard on AM and FM KCII, things were back and forth early with Camanche holding a 13-11 lead after the first eight minutes. The Hawks locked down the defensive end in the second frame to win the it 15-7 and build a 26-20 lead going to half. The third quarter also belonged to Hawks as senior guard Camron Pickard began to take things over, he had 12 in the third alone and Mid-Prairie built a commanding 43-30 lead going to the fourth. Camanche made a big push late, with the Hawks up 11 with just over a minute to go, the Storm would pull within one as Mid-Prairie tried to ice it at the line. Camanche had one last chance with two seconds remaining down two, but a Golden Hawk steal at the buzzer sealed the win.

Turnovers proved to be a big difference with the Hawks coming out on top 18-6. The Storm shot 54% to Mid-Prairie’s 36% and outrebounded the Hawks by 11. Mid-Prairie hit seven three pointers and had 15 assists. Pickard led the way for Mid-Prairie with a career high 29 points, including five threes and a perfect six of six night at the line. He joined the KCII broadcast Saturday to talk about the night. “Immediately after we went back to the locker room and talked, everybody started asking me ‘how many points did you have?’. It just doesn’t feel like you score that much. My teammates having faith and just getting me the ball, me and (Alex) Bean have to be the leaders on the team. It feels pretty good to put the ball in the hoop. Not only me but the young guys, how we played defense and rebounded was probably the key in why we won this game. (Coach Lambert) had to sometimes get on us about practicing hard and playing hard, but now we’re finally starting to focus on our goals and get into a flow this year. Playing hard defense, we talked on defense, we rotated and we were getting all of those 50/50 balls and that’s really what it takes to win games. Coach really emphasizes championship plays and playing hard, and that’s what we need to do every single night.”

Alex Bean got to double figures with 10 points, Beau Flynn pulled in 10 boards. The win moves Mid-Prairie to 6-3 on the year as they get ready for a rivalry game with Williamsburg Monday night. You can hear the boy/girl doubleheader with the Raiders live on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee Pregame Show at 5:30, tip of the girls game at six with the boys to follow.