Photo Courtesy of MP Sports Social Media (Nicole Miller)

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls basketball team opened the Class 3A Regional Tournament Saturday, running away from visiting Albia 57-29 at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman. The Hawks led 17-5 after one period and 41-15 at half, thanks to runs of 19-2 and 14-3 before halftime. The offense slowed down in the second half, but the Mid-Prairie defense, stayed strong, giving up just seven points in each of third and fourth quarters to secure the win. The Hawks shot 43% from the floor, outrebounded Albia by 23, had 14 offensive rebounds, 19 assists and forced 25 turnovers. The Hawks were led by 13 points each for Nora Pennington and Brooklyn Schneider. Pennington added four assists and Callie Huber eight boards. Pennington, a senior, and the Golden Hawk of the Game, joined the KCII Postgame Show Saturday to talk about the win. Pennington said, “Whenever we provide defensive pressure against another team I feel like it really messed their momentum up. We worked on that in practice, trapping and getting steals without fouling. Jovi Evans does a great job running the court every game. She’s one of our main scorers and has a big role on this team. All of our other guards Olivia (Swartzentruber), Morgan Bender, Izzy (Kite), Katelyn Harland, they all do a great job looking ahead for us and throwing dimes. Definitely for me it’s assists. My main role has never been as a scorer. I think assists are super important because you’re setting your teammates up for success.”

Albia got 11 points from Lillian DeMoss. Mid-Prairie is now 11-10 on the year and advances to the 3A Regional Semifinals Wednesday at No. 13 Chariton who was a 66-30 winner over Centerville in their opener Saturday. You can hear all of the action for the Hawks Wednesday against the Chargers, live from Chariton, on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 App and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Golden Hawk Basketball Pregame Show at 6:30p.m. and tip at 7.