Photo Courtesy of Hudl

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams hosted West Branch Tuesday for a River Valley Conference doubleheader that saw the girls grab a win and the boys fall. The Hawks opened the night a winner in the girls game 46-37. The Bears sprang on top 16-10 after one but an 18-5 Golden Hawk run that lasted the entire second period, put Mid-Prairie on top 28-21 at half. West Branch answered with a 12-2 third frame to lead 33-30 through three before the Hawks closed on a 16-4 sprint to win. This week, Golden Hawk head coach Danny Hershberger talked about the victory. “I thought our girls did a great job of stepping up in a tough situation. Forcing turnovers. Kylie Reinier has a huge and-one to give us a lead in the fourth quarter. We don’t panic. We get the job done. We turned the ball over 20 times, which is a little uncharacteristic for us, but, we forced them into quite a few turnovers. Amara Jones gets six steals. Kylie Reinier has three steals. Points were at a premium and Amara Jones scores eight in the fourth quarter. Kylie (Reinier) has four or five in the fourth quarter. Seniors stepped up when we needed them to and found ways to make game winning plays.”

The Hawks outrebounded the Bears by nine, had 13 steals and 10 assists, forcing 20 West Branch turnovers, but also gave it away 20 times on their own. Nora Pennington had nine points, Amara Jones and Kylie Reinier eight each. Mid-Prairie remains unbeaten since break at 8-5, preparing for state ranked West Liberty Friday.

West Branch completed a season sweep of the Golden Hawk boys 64-44. The Bears never let the Hawks up for breath after jumping out to a 24-13 lead after the first. They led 34-19 at half and 48-36 after three. The Bears shot a sweltering 51% from the floor and hit 10 threes. Camron Pickard finished with 13 points to lead Mid-Prairie, Alex Bean 12. The Golden Hawks fall to 8-5 this year with a trip to West Liberty Friday.