Photo Courtesy of MP Sports Social Media (Nicole Miller)
In their final River Valley Conference doubleheader of the season, the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams took one of two from the Tipton Tigers Monday at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman. The Golden Hawk girls won a defensive grinder 36-32. Mid-Prairie trailed 7-6 after the first, but used an 11-2 run in the second period to build a 22-15 lead going to half. The Golden Hawks would score just 14 points after halftime, on only five field goals, but the defense had the Tigers on lockdown, giving up just 17 in the second half to hold on for the win. With the game tied at 29 and just one minute left, the Hawks got an enormous three from freshman Brooklyn Schneider to give them the lead for good, they would score four more including a Nora Pennington layup to ice the game. After the contest, Schneider joined KCII Sports on the postgame show to talk about the shot and win. Schneider said, “We wanted to go get every ball we saw. We played really well together as a team defensively. I knew that we needed (that shot). I saw that I was open and the opportunity was there and I took it. Yeah I could feel (it was in) when I shot it. I was happy because that put us in a good spot at the end of the game. It was really exciting to win tonight. It gives us more confidence to go into the next game and play as hard as we did today.”
The Hawks overcame 34 turnovers and a four of 10 night at the line to get the win. They won the battle on the boards by five. Schneider led Mid-Prairie with 10 points, Carly Langenberg had 15 to lead the Tipton attack. Mid-Prairie is now 10-10 for the year as they gear up for Saturday’s regional opener against Albia. The Tigers fall to 14-6.
In the nightcap, the Hawks couldn’t overcome hot Tiger shooting, falling in the boys game 68-54. Tipton knocked down five first quarter threes to build a 17-11 lead after one, and won the second frame 16-9 to go up 33-20 at half. The Tigers went up by as much as 18 in the second half before Mid-Prairie made a march to get back in it. A 16-5 blitz for the Hawks brought them back within seven with six minutes remaining but the Tigers were clutch down the stretch, holding the Golden Hawks at bay for the road win. Tipton connected on 45% of their shots and hit 10 threes. Preston Daedlow had 22 points to lead the Tigers. Mid-Prairie won the glass by three. The Hawks got 16 points from Dylan Henry and 13 from Bryce Henry. The loss snaps Mid-Prairie’s winning streak at four, dropping their record to 10-8 on the year, 5-5 in conference. Tipton is now 8-11 and 4-7. Mid-Prairie is back on the floor tonight when they travel to Fairfield.