The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams take the court tonight for a River Valley Conference doubleheader against the Tipton Tigers. The Mid-Prairie boys are 9-2 this year, 4-1 in the River Valley after a 62-51 Tuesday loss in Wellman to No. 13 Regina where Bryce Henry scored 32 points, his ninth straight game with 20 or more. On the season, the Hawks score 66 and give up 52 per game, shooting 44% from the floor, 36% from three and 73% at the line with 29 rebounds, 12 assists, eight steals and 13 turnovers per game. Individually, Henry leads at 24 points per game, Conner Wiles averages six boards per night and Brady Weber has four assists and two steals per game.
Tipton is 7-4 this year and 4-1, tied with Mid-Prairie for second place in the RVC after hammering North Cedar Monday 76-39. This year the Tigers score 56 per night and give up 54 on 41% shooting, 26% from deep and 68% at the line with 27 rebounds, 11 assists, nine steals and 12 turnovers per game. Individually, Zach Butler scores 16 points with eight boards per night. Clay Bohlmann has three assists and two steals per game. Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert spoke live on Tuesday’s postgame show about the keys against Tipton for the Hawks to bounce back.
Lambert said, “We talked about how to attack tomorrow after tonight’s loss. How are you going to respond? We’ll go back to the drawing board on a few things but a lot of this is very correctable. They are simple things that we consistently have to do time and time again. It’s easy to push those things to the side after a win, but, when you lose, you have to look at yourself in the mirror. We’re excited to get back after it. Tipton is not going to do us any favors. They’re going to be ready to go. We have split with them the last few years. Tipton is always a tough place to play. We have to be ready to go!”
The Hawks have won six of the last eight in the series, with the teams splitting a season ago, each winning on the other’s home floor.
The Golden Hawk girls are 8-3 this year, 4-1 in the River Valley after a 59-49 loss to No. 3 Regina Tuesday where Callie Huber led with 14 points. On the season, the Hawks score 61 points per night and give up 46, shooting 39% from the field, 29% from three and 67% at the line with 38 rebounds, 17 steals, 16 assists and 20 turnovers per game. Individually, Huber is averaging a team best 12 points and nine boards per game, Katelyn Harland has four assists and Jeorgia Evans four steals per night.
Tipton is 9-3 overall and a matching 4-1, in second place in the RVC. The Tigers beat North Cedar Monday 50-14. This year, Tipton scores 46 per game and gives up 39, shooting 35% from the floor, 26% from three and 60% at the line with 33 rebounds, 12 assists, 11 steals and 20 turnovers per game. Jordyn Schmidt leads with 11 points per game, Zoe Holstein nine rebounds and Ella Hein three assists and two steals. Golden Hawk head coach Danny Hershberger joined Tuesday’s KCII postgame show live to talk about his team regrouping after the Regina loss and what he expects from the Tigers.
Hershberger said, “We need to rest and recover a little bit from two tough nights in a row against two ranked teams. We talked after the game, we have to bring this kind of energy and effort level each night. If we are able to continue to do that I like our opportunities in the second half of the year. We need to clean up some of the little things, go out, and give our best effort Friday.”
Mid-Prairie has won eight of the last nine in the series, with the two teams splitting last year, each winning on their own home floor. You can hear all of the action live tonight from Tipton High School on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 App and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Golden Hawk Basketball Pregame Show at 5:30p.m., tip of the girls game at six with the boys to follow.