A long road trip awaits the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams tonight when they travel to North Cedar for a River Valley Conference doubleheader. The Mid-Prairie boys are 3-0 this year, their last victim, Iowa City Regina Tuesday in Wellman 69-50. Ethan Kos’ 16 points paced Mid-Prairie. On the year, the Hawks are scoring 65 points per game, giving up 35, shooting 45% from the floor, 23% from long range 62% from the line. They pull in 40 rebounds, dish out 14 assists, grab eight steals and commit nine turnovers. That rebound per game number is best in class 2A. Individually, Carter Harmsen leads the Hawks in scoring and rebounding averaging a double double 16 points and 10 rebounds. Jack Pennington leads the Mid-Prairie guards with four assists and two steals per game. This week Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert talked about what has keyed his team’s unbeaten start. “We speed teams up, force them into a quick shot and make sure that’s the only one they get on that possession. We have great shooters ourselves and our offense plays well and can put up points, but even on night’s when the shots aren’t falling this team is dedicated to finding another way to get the job done. I’m pleased with how they respond to adversity. They aren’t just about how many points did I get. A lot of times the questions are how many rebounds did I get? That’s just the mentality you have to have as a team. These guys want to do great things this year. As long as we keep that mental focus and competing, I feel like we can do it.”

North Cedar is 0-3 this year with losses to Camanche, Monticello and Northeast. The Knights score 36 points per game, while giving up 63, shoot 33% from the floor, 18% from downtown and 61% at the line. The Knights average 24 rebounds, seven assists, seven steals and 20 turnovers per game. Tyler Jackson leads North Cedar at 10 points, five points and two steals per game. Davonte Crist puts up a team best two assists per night. North Cedar leads the series between these two schools winning 14 of the 18 all-time meetings, but Mid-Prairie has taken two of the last three including a 71-55 victory last year.

The Mid-Prairie girls are 2-2 this season, beating Tipton and Durant but falling to West Liberty and Iowa City Regina. The Regals beat the Hawks in Wellman in overtime Tuesday 55-46. The Hawks are scoring 50 per game and giving up 43. They shoot 39% from the floor, 31% from downtown and 43% at the line. They average 29 rebounds, 13 assists, 14 steals and 16 turnovers per contest. Individually, Mid-Prairie has Amara Jones out front at 13 points, four assists and three steals per game. Maddie Nonnenmann is best on the glass with four rebounds per night.

The North Cedar girls are 0-4 this season, dropping games to Camanche, Monticello, Northeast and Bellevue. The Knights were beaten Tuesday by the Storm 49-34. On the season, North Cedar scores 30 per night and gives up 60. They shoot 25% from the floor, 22% from behind the arc and 52% at the line. They pull in 31 rebounds to go along with seven assists, seven steals and 30 turnovers per night. On the individual side they are paced by Aubrie Pruess scoring 11 points per game. Valerie Pruess is the team leader at nine rebounds per game. Addison Shields is adding a team best three steals and two assists to the totals. The Hawks have never lost to the Knights, winning all 15 matchups since the Knights have joined the RVC including a win in 2020 by a 64-8. You can hear all of the action live tonight on AM 1380, FM 102.5 and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Washington HyVee Pregame Show at 5:30, tip of the girls game at six with the boys to follow from North Cedar High School in Clarence.