The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams put their perfect records on the line tonight when they travel to West Branch for a River Valley Conference doubleheader. The Golden Hawk girls are 3-0 to start the year after wins over Fairfield, Benton and Camanche. They have been off since a Friday win over the Storm in Wellman 60-58 where Callie Huber’s 20 point, 11 rebounds double double led the way. The Golden Hawks score 64 points per night and give up 38, shooting 39% from the floor, 22% from three and 65% at the line with 43 rebounds, 23 steals, 17 assists and 23 turnovers per game. Individually, Huber and Brooklyn Schneider each average 11 points per night, with Huber’s nine boards leading the way. Jeorgia Evans has a team best four steals per game and Katelyn Harland three assists. This week, Golden Hawk head coach Danny Hershberger talked about what he’s seen from his team in the early-going.
Hersherger said, “(We’ve been) taking care of the basketball and getting a good shot at important times. We’ve also gotten some second looks on offensive rebounds. We have a really quick team that can cause a lot of problems for the other team with the pressure that we can put on defensively. We try to focus limiting the opponent to one shot. We feel like depth going to be huge for us this year with the way we want to play, we can wear other teams down. We feel really good about our players. For the girls to finish out a tough win against Camanche was really good to see from us.”
West Branch is 1-4 overall and winless in the River Valley, following a 52-24 home loss to No. 12 Cascade Tuesday. This season, the Bears average 30 points per night and give up 48, shooting 25% overall, 17% from long range and 39% at the line with 35 rebounds, nine steals, six assists and 30 turnovers per night. Individually, Kennedy Simpson scores 10 points per game, Ava Burnett has seven rebounds and three steals and Sulli Bucknell two assists. Mid-Prairie has won the last four in the series including a season sweep last year.
The Golden Hawk boys are 3-0, beating Pekin, Camanche and Benton by an average of 32 points. Against the Panthers Thursday in a 72-32 win, four Hawks got to double figures, led by Bryce Henry’s 25 points. This year, Mid-Prairie scores 77 per game and gives up 49, shooting 45% from the floor, 41% from three and 63% at the line with 33 rebounds, 18 assists, 12 steals and 12 turnovers per night. Henry’s 21 points and seven boards pace the Hawks along with Brady Weber’s six assists and four steals. Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert talked with KCII Sports live on the postgame show Thursday about his team’s depth, dealing with early season injuries to key players Ace Peck and Brooks Weber and what has them playing well despite the adversity.
Lambert said, “(With those injuries), you take some more points away from the offensive lineup so I told them ‘We’ve really got to dig in’. These guys have done that consistently in the first three games. We want to defend, rebound and run. Anytime we only give up one shot a possession, we’re really going to hold teams to a low number. Depth has become pretty important. I’m pleased with all of the guys who have stepped up. Guys are really moving the ball well and trusting that the ball will come back to them if they are a scorer, because we are going to find the best shot.”
West Branch is 1-3 overall 1-1 in the River Valley. They fell to Cascade Tuesday 67-45. On the year, the Bears score 47 points per game and give up 57, shooting 35% overall, 21% from three and 52% at the line with 29 rebounds, eight assists, four steals, and 12 turnovers per night. Individually, Nathan Hills and Jayden Harris each score 10 per game. Harris has three assists, Brandon Pickett seven rebounds and a steal. The Bears have won 16 of the last 19 in the series including four straight. You can hear all of the action live tonight between the Golden Hawks and Bears on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 App and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Golden Hawk Basketball Pregame Show at 5:30p.m., Unc N Nephs Food & Brew tip of the girls game at six with the boys to follow from West Branch High School.