Friday was a clean sweep for the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls and boys basketball teams as they topped the Tipton Tigers in both ends of a River Valley Conference doubleheader at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman. The Golden Hawk girls bounced back from their first loss of the season earlier in the week to blast Tipton 57-20. Mid-Prairie sprinted to a 24-7 lead after the first quarter and 47-13 lead at half. After the break, Mid-Prairie outscored the Tigers 10-7 the rest of the way with a running clock, including shutting out the Tigers for the entire fourth quarter. Mid-Prairie shot 42% from downtown, had 22 steals and 16 assists. On the KCII Radio Coaches Corner, head coach Danny Hershberger talked about the keys and key players in the victory. “We let our defense key our offense tonight and we got a lot of layups and good shots that way. Nora Pennington and Amara Jones were great at the top of our press. We were able to knock down seven threes in the first half. We had really balanced scoring tonight and that always makes it difficult on the opposing defense.”
A trio of Hawks got to double figures led by 11 points for Maddie Nonnenmann and 10 each for Amara Jones and Landry Pacha. The girls are now 2-1.
The Mid-Prairie boys gradually pulled away from Tipton Friday in Wellman, beating the Tigers 60-35. The Hawks were up 14-9 after the first eight minutes and 28-20 at half. The Golden Hawk lead grew to 47-30 going to the fourth where Mid-Prairie put things away with a 15-3 run to end the game. Mid-Prairie outrebounded Tipton by 25, 45-20, forced 21 turnovers and recorded 16 assists. This week, Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert talked about the win on the KCII Radio Coaches Corner. “I always believe as a short guy myself that rebounding is just an effort thing. We have guys that really value the basketball and put in that effort. They were running their mouths after the game to one another about who the best rebounder is on the team. Carter Harmsen is going to get his points one way or another. A lot of those came around the rim tonight and with some “and ones”. Other guys were ready, they hit open shots. That balance makes it tough on the other team. We have an all-state guy who is going to draw a lot of attention, but we feel like we have a lot of weapons across the team that can score the basketball.”
A pair of Hawks posted double doubles for Mid-Prairie with Carter Harmsen at 17 points and 12 rebounds and Ethan Kos 11 points and 12 boards. Jack Pennington had 12 points and Alex Bean added 11. Mid-Prairie is now 2-0. The Golden Hawk boys and girls host Iowa City Regina Tuesday night at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman for a River Valley Conference doubleheader. You can hear all of the action live on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee Pregame show at 5:30, and tip of the girls game at six with the boys to follow.