A rivalry showdown on the basketball court in Washington County produced a split last night at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman between the Washington Demons and the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks.
Mid-Prairie won the girls’ game 55-53, but it was Washington who raced out to the early 12-4 lead. The Golden Hawks would use a 16-5 run to grab the advantage by the end of the first quarter, and while they stayed in front the rest of the way, they never led by more than eight points in a tight contest.
Free throws in the final 30 seconds by Callie Huber would put a home victory to bed. Huber and fellow senior Brylee Gearhart powered Mid-Prairie to victory by each recording a double-double.
Huber had 13 points, two blocked shots and a game-high 17 rebounds, while Gearhart finished with 12 points, 14 boards and three blocks to help the Hawks improve to 14-4. After the game, Mid-Prairie head coach Danny Hershberger told KCII Sports that his team saw an opportunity to win the game in the paint.
“We knew Brylee and Callie inside were going to have a huge advantage,” Hershberger said, “and we had to find ways to get it inside. We were able to get it inside early to Callie and get off to a good start there.”
Adalyn Long scored a game-high 18 points for Washington, while fellow junior Addison Miller hit three three-pointers and had 11 points as the Demons drop to 6-13.
In the boys’ game, Washington scored a convincing 68-50 victory over Mid-Prairie, racing out to a 13-2 lead in the opening minutes. After the Golden Hawks got back within five points, senior Seth Shepherd sparked the Demons with four made triples in the second quarter alone to build their advantage to 31-19 at halftime.
Mid-Prairie would get back within a point at 34-33 to start the third period, but Washington again had an answer with a 21-5 stretch to build the lead back up, and they would be up by as much as 20 points down the stretch.
In addition to Shepherd pouring in five treys and 18 points off the bench, Drew Conrad led the Demons with a game-high 20 points. Fellow junior Kael Williams added 10 points as Washington raises its record to 8-10.
After the game, head coach Collin Stark told KCII Sports that the Demons could not have responded better to a tough loss on Friday and being without leading scorer Logan McDole due to illness.
“When a team doesn’t have their full arsenal,” Stark said, “some things tend to happen where guys need to step up. Maybe we’re a little more focused, but we had guys step up today.”
Senior Brady Weber put up a team-high 16 points for Mid-Prairie, while junior Kaden Kos chipped in 12 points off the bench. The Golden Hawks lose back-to-back games for the first time this season as they fall to 14-4.
While Mid-Prairie is right back at it this evening at home against Tipton, Washington next plays Friday at Fort Madison. You can catch Demon basketball on KCII Friday night starting with pregame coverage at 5:30 on 106.1 FM and streaming on KCIIradio.com and the KCII app.