Photo Courtesy of Danny Hershberger

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls basketball team starts their regional run Saturday when they take on the Central Lee Hawks in the quarterfinal round of the Class 3A Tournament.

Mid-Prairie is 15-5 this year, and 9-3, second in the River Valley Conference South Division. The Golden Hawks were last on the floor eight days ago in a 53-45 loss at No. 2 Iowa City Regina. On the year, Mid-Prairie scores 61 per night and gives up 44 on 40% shooting, 30% from three and 64% at the line with 37 rebounds, 15 assists and steals and 17 turnovers per game. Individually, Callie Huber goes for a team best 12 points and nine boards per night, Katelyn Harland averages three assists and Jeorgia Evans three steals per game.

Central Lee is 11-11 this year, finishing 9-5, fourth in the Southeast Iowa Superconference South Division. Their last contest was a 56-47 win over Cardinal on Monday. This year, the Hawks score 44 per game and give up 45 on 33% shooting, 23% from three and 48% at the line with 33 rebounds, 16 steals, 10 assists and 19 turnovers per game. Individual leaders are Lizzy Mason with 12 points, six steals and three assists per game. Kenna Sandoval averages eight boards per night. Golden Hawk head coach Danny Hershberger talked with KCII Sports this week about the keys against Central Lee.

Hershberger said, “They’re a pretty young team. They have a couple of players that can put up quite a few points. Their point guard does a really nice job and can make some three pointers. They have three or four girls that can shoot from the outside. They also have a physical post player that we’re going to have to do a good job defending. We have to limit them to one shot. We want to get in our transition offense and push the pace of the game, get back to playing fast how we like to.”

Mid-Prairie has won three of the last four meetings since 2014, with Central Lee getting a 49-41 win in their last matchup in 2021. You can hear all of the exciting playoff action live tonight on AM 1380, FM 102.5, the KCII2 App and KCIIradio.com, beginning with the Golden Hawk Playoff Pregame Show at 6:30p.m. And Unc N Nephs Food & Brew Tip at 7 from Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman.