Photo Courtesy of Danny Hershberger
The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls basketball team saw their season draw to a close Wednesday in the semifinal round of the Class 3A Regional Tournament, falling to No. 3 Williamsburg 35-16. Both offenses spun their wheels most of the night, with the Raiders up 6-4 after one quarter. Williamsburg used a 10-2 run that spanned the full second frame to create distance with a 16-6 halftime lead. The Raiders outscored the Golden Hawks 19-10 after half to finish the win. Golden Hawk head girls coach Danny Hershberger joined the KCII postgame show to talk about his team, the game and his seniors.
Hershberger said, “Our girls did a great job of communicating on defense, getting where they needed to be and making it really tough on (Williamsburg) to execute what they wanted to do. Our effort on top of that was outstanding and we did a great job of closing out hard on shooters, forcing them into some tough shots. The Williamsburg defense is going to be physical and they make you work to get shots. We struggled a little bit with turnovers. We did get a few good shots, they just didn’t go in. It felt like whatever we tried, we had a hard time getting into a flow. Credit Williamsburg for their outstanding defense. Seniors Callie Huber and Brylee Gearhart have been great for us all year, they have done so much for this program. They have been rocks. They have been great leaders, showing the younger girls how to do things and the work it takes to be great basketball players.”
Mid-Prairie won the glass 31-26, but lost turnovers 29-12. They shot 21% and held the Raiders to 29% from the field. Williamsburg had 19 steals. They were led in scoring by Carly Rich with 16 points. Morgyn Bender, Callie Huber and Jeorgia Evans scored four each for Mid-Prairie, Huber finished with 12 rebounds, and three steals. The Golden Hawks finish the season at 16-6 and say goodbye to Seniors Brylee Gearhart and Callie Huber. Williamsburg improved to 22-2 and with their win Saturday advanced to the 3A State Tournament.