The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams look to remain undefeated in their campaigns when they visit West Liberty tonight for a River Valley Conference doubleheader. The Golden Hawk boys are 6-0 overall, 3-0 in the River Valley, after dominating at Durant before the Holidays. This year the Hawks score 72 per game and give up 45, shooting 44% from the floor, 35% from three and 73% at the line, with 37 rebounds, 15 assists, 10 steals and 13 turnovers per game. Individually, Ace Peck and Bryce Henry are both averaging 23 points per game. Brady Weber has four assists per game and Peck three steals per night.
West Liberty is 3-5 this year, 0-3 in conference and were 50-41 winners over Calamus-Wheatland last night. The Comets score 49 and give up 57 per night, shooting 35% from the floor, 20% from three and 60% at the line with 27 rebounds, 11 assists, nine steals and 12 turnovers per game. Individually, Ryker Dengler averages 17 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals per game. Mid-Prairie has won 31 of the last 39 in the series including seven in a row. Head coach Daren Lambert talked with KCII Sports about what the Hawks can do to replicate the success of the first half of the year.
Lambert said, “The intensity has been there. Doing the simple things well, over and over again. Rotating faster on defense, stopping possessions after one shot, running out in transition, getting offensive rebounds and attacking the rim. We have locked in and done those things, and it’s put us in a good situation so far this year.”
The Mid-Prairie girls are also unbeaten at 6-0 overall, 3-0 in the RVC after a crazy comeback win at Durant where Morgyn Bender beat the buzzer. Mid-Prairie is ranked No. 15 in Class 3A in the latest poll from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. The Hawks score 65 per game and give up 36, shooting 38% from the floor, 26% from three and 68% at the line with 42 rebounds, 22 steals, 17 assists and 19 turnovers per night. Individually, Callie Huber leads at 13 points and 10 boards per game. Jeorgia Evans has four steals per night and Katelyn Harland four assists.
West Liberty is 3-4 on the year, 1-1 in conference play after a home win over Cal-Wheat Monday. This season, the Comets score 45 per game and give up 46 on 33% shooting, 24% from three and 53% at the line with 29 rebounds, 12 steals, 10 assists and 17 turnovers per game. Individually, Kylee Daufeldt leads with 14 points and six boards per game. Person Hall has five assists and four steals per night. Golden Hawk head coach Danny Hershberger joined the KCII Radio Coaches Corner to talk about the Hawk’s success and how it can continue
Hershberger said, “We’re happy where we’re at, but there’s always things we can get better at. We want to continue to pressure the other team with our defense, play fast and get the ball up the court on offense. We have to take care of the basketball. We had a few games this year where we were around 10 turnovers and the results were really good, and a few games where we were at almost 30 turnovers and those have been much more challenging. Defensively, we need to make sure we do a good job individually and rebound. Those are going to be the focus for the second half.”
Mid-Prairie has won 27 of the last 36 in this series including three straight. You can hear all of the action between the Golden Hawks and Comets live tonight 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 with the boys to follow, live from West Liberty.