The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks came away with the sweep of their annual rivalry basketball doubleheader against the Washington Demons last night. Despite taking an early 15-3 lead, Mid-Prairie would only be up six points at halftime. Washington kept on coming by starting the second half on a 12-6 run that tied the game, and the game would still be even at 29 entering the final quarter.
But the Golden Hawks put it all together in the last eight minutes, finishing the game on an 18-3 run and going to defeat the Demons 47-32. After the game, Mid-Prairie head coach Danny Hershberger told KCII Sports he was proud of the way his team ended the game with authority.
“I thought we did just a better job defensively,” Hershberger said. “We got a little bit out of sync on our rotations in the third quarter. Credit Washington for hitting some big shots [and] quite a few three-pointers to get back in the game. I thought we did a much better job of getting out on shooters in the fourth quarter and making it more difficult on them again.”
Mid-Prairie was led in scoring by 15 points from freshman Brooklyn Schneider, while junior Callie Huber also had 13 points to help the Golden Hawks improve to 9-7. Senior Jacey Berg scored 12 points, but the Demons still fall to 8-9.
The boys’ game would be a thrilling offensive showdown, but Washington held the lead for most of the night. The Demons had an 18-13 lead after a quarter of play and were still up by five points at the half behind five made three-point baskets.
Mid-Prairie would still be down 47-40 going into the final period. But behind some big early buckets from senior Dylan Henry and a huge shooting night from junior Ace Peck, the Golden Hawks rallied to tie the game in the final minute.
A 57-56 lead for Mid-Prairie went away when Washington freshman Nic Stone hit a three-pointer in the final minute. But Peck answered moments later with the go-ahead three, his eighth of the night, and the Hawks would hold on as the Demons’ half-court heave at the buzzer fell short, giving the Hawks a 62-59 win. Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert said his team showed tremendous resiliency.
“Initially, it was not great defense [and] our shots weren’t falling,” Lambert said, “and then we worked out of that, start defending a little bit better, hit some shots, and then you got back into the rut of not hitting something. [We] turned up the pressure in that fourth quarter, and the guys really responded. [I am] just really proud of the guys, and it really sets the tone for the week.”
In addition to Peck’s game-high 24 points, Henry scored 13 to help the Golden Hawks move to 7-7. Senior Roman Roth had 16 points to lead Washington, while sophomore Drew Conrad finished with 14 points and junior Logan McDole had 12, but the Demons nonetheless drop to 6-9.
While Washington is off until Friday night when they will face Fort Madison, Mid-Prairie is back in action tonight against River Valley Conference rival Tipton. You can hear both games of the doubleheader between the Golden Hawks and Tigers this evening starting at 6 o’clock on 102.5 FM and AM 1380 KCII.