Photo Courtesy of MP Sports Social Medial (Nicole Miller)

On a big stage, against a big opponent, Bryce Henry and the Hawks were bigger. The Golden Hawk junior sizzled inside Tim Grady Gymnasium all afternoon Saturday as the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks kept their undefeated record intact after a challenge from the Solon Spartans 61-57. The two teams rode the see-saw in the first half. An early Solon lead turned to a 19-17 Mid-Prairie advantage after one. After a Spartan sprint of 10 straight in the second, they led 34-27 at half. The Hawks won the third quarter and got the deficit to a pair going to the fourth at 45-43. Mid-Prairie made their move in the fourth, putting the Spartans through a key two-and-a-half minute drought from the floor. Offensively, Henry dialed up a pair of dagger step-back threes and the Hawks went seven of eight at the line in the final 90 seconds to slam the door on Solon. After the game, Henry joined the KCII Postgame show live, to talk about the work by him and his teammates.

Henry said, “(My key today) was definitely the three point line. They were giving me that shot and I take those shots all the time. (My favorite threes) were the stepbacks in the corner. I’m a hungry player. I like to get those points. I go to the Y every day and get shots up, in practice we get a ton of shots up. We knew Solon was going to be aggressive so defense was a priority. They got way too many rebounds in the first half, so we had to take that over. We are a good offensive team that can get points easily. When we’re also playing well on defense we are tough.” 

Henry finished with a game high and career high 39 points, two shy of the Golden Hawk all-time record, including eight made threes and a perfect five of five at the line. Brady Weber added 10 points. The Hawks hit 10 threes as a team. Caleb Bock had 16 to lead Solon. The Golden Hawks are undefeated at 8-0 while Solon falls to 3-4.

The Lady Spartans handed the No. 15 in Class 3A Golden Hawk girls their first loss of the season 79-58. Solon set the tone early with suffocating defense, opening the contest on a 10-0 run, thanks to live-ball turnovers. They led 26-16 after one and 48-27 at half. The Spartans extended the lead to 31 after break, before Mid-Prairie won the fourth quarter 18-13. The two teams were even on the glass, but Solon won turnovers 26-13 and had 21 team steals with 18 assists and hit a dozen threes. Delainey Durr led Solon with 20 points. Jeorgia Evans paced the Golden Hawks with 14, Brylee Gearhart and Callie Huber added 12 each. The loss bumps the Hawks to 7-1, Solon is now 4-4. The Mid-Prairie boys and girls are off until a Thursday trip to Alburnett.