The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams swept away their River Valley Conference rivals from West Branch in a pair of games heard on KCII Tuesday. The Golden Hawk girls started by hammering the Bears 65-20. The Hawks opened the game on a 24-5 run that spanned the full first quarter and won the second period 20-3, to go up 44-8 at half. Mid-Prairie outscored the Bears 21-12 after break to secure the win. The Hawks won turnovers 23-8 and outrebounded West Branch by 22. Nine different Golden Hawks scored on the night, and four got to double figures, led by a monster 17 point, 13 rebound double double from Callie Huber. Morgyn Bender and Jeorgia Evans each put in 11 and Brooklyn Schneider scored 10. Evans led with four steals and Katelyn Harland had four assists. Bender and Schneider joined the KCII postgame show live to talk about the win.

Schneider said, “I got some good shots tonight from three, and some drives with fouls and I was able to make those free throws. We were able to hold them to eight in the first half. We just played a great defensive game with lots of steals and talked well on defense. I think that’s what helped us get such a good lead.”

Bender continued, “I had a three first play in and I was happy about that. I’ve been trying to work on driving more so I was really trying to take it to the hoop. (On defense) we were working well together, switching screens, doing the little things.”

West Branch was led by nine points from Kennedy Simpson. It was win number 10 for the Golden Hawks on the year against three losses overall and moves them to 6-1 in the RVC. The Bears are 2-12 and winless in conference.

The Mid-Prairie boys started hot, weathered the storm, and pulled away late in a 72-56 victory. The Golden Hawks rolled after the opening tip, scoring the game’s first 18 points. They would stretch the lead as high as 24 in the first half, holding a 36-21 lead at the break. West Branch regrouped after intermission and put together a 12-2 run that cut the Mid-Prairie lead to five, but seven straight points from Ace Peck, including a quarter buzzer beating three, restored the Golden Hawk lead to 12, and they finished the win. Mid-Prairie won turnovers 16-12 and rebounds by three. They were led by Brady Weber’s stat packed night. The Golden Hawk point guard had team highs with 19 points, six assists, six rebounds and five steals. He spoke on the KCII postgame show about his night and the win.

Weber said, “We did a great job of running in transition and holding them to one shot. We have guys that do a great job running the floor. We hit shots early and once you see the first few go in, shooting is contagious, we went on a great run and played great defense. It’s a big thing to want the ball, have confidence, and want to help my team.”

Bryce Henry’s 15 points and 12 from Peck made it a trio of Hawks in double figures. Brandon Pickett led West Branch with 14. Mid-Prairie is now 11-2 on the year, 6-1, second place in the River Valley, while the Bears fall to 5-9 and 4-4 in the league.