Photo Courtesy of Solon Spartan Social Media
The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams fell to the Solon Spartans on the road Thursday in a doubleheader sweep. Solon scored the boys win in a hard-fought 66-62 contest. The Spartans raced out to a 24-12 lead after the first, and at one point in the first half, led by as many as 17. The Hawks got their sharpshooters going from deep in the second quarter, hitting six threes in the period to climb back in the game, down 39-34 at the break. The two teams traded the lead a handful of times in the third and fourth quarters, with Solon up 51-46 going to the fourth. In the final period, the Golden Hawks trailed by six with two minutes remaining and cut it to two at the 30 second mark. Following a defensive stand, Mid-Prairie had one shot to tie or take the final lead, and their layup rolled around the rim and off with 15 seconds left to seal their fate. After the contest, Mid-Prairie head boys basketball coach Daren Lambert talked about his team’s response after trailing early, and what they did to get back in the game. Lambert said, “We said (the comeback) was going to come from getting defensive stops and valuing the basketball in our possessions on the other end. We needed to hit shots. When we went on our run, that was exactly what happened. Some of the shots we take may look crazy to an opponent but, we have a lot of great shooters on this team. We just talk about how our success can’t be dictated by just our shooting. Defense and rebounding always have to be there. That’s what we improved on in the second quarter. Switched things up, went zone, rotated and defended extremely well and went on our own little run there. Very pleased with our response. You’re on the road in a tough place to play, you get punched in the mouth and our guys came back and fought. We’ve taken steps forward over the last couple of games. Ultimately, tonight, you still want the win. You want two more minutes up on the clock. We had a great look at the end. Proud of the guys’ effort tonight.”
Rylen Stiegelmeyer and Jake Benzing led the Spartan attack with 18 and 17 points respectively. The Golden Hawks got 17 points including five threes from Ace Peck and 12 points each from Brady Weber and Landon Sullivan. The Spartans won the turnover battle 13-11 but Mid-Prairie outrebounded the Spartans by five. The Hawks are now 4-4 on the year as Solon remains unbeaten at 6-0.
The girls contest was all Spartans from the start in a 72-29 win. Solon started the game on a 23-4 run that lasted the entire first quarter and enacted the running clock in the first half, on top 54-12 at intermission. Ten total Spartans scored, led by future Iowa Hawkeye Callie Levin with 22 points and 11 each from Hailey Miller and Anna Quillin. Solon won the turnover battle 35-9 and outrebounded Mid-Prairie by 26. The Golden Hawks got eight points each from Callie Huber and Brylee Gearhart. The top-ranked Spartans are now 8-1 and Mid-Prairie is 6-3. The Hawks are back on the court January 8th when they host Williamsburg.