Photos Courtesy of Jeff Yoder
The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys basketball team opened up the district tournament with a 58-40 win Thursday in Wellman over Mediapolis. The Bulldogs controlled action early, starting the game on a 10-3 run and lead 12-9 after one period. The Golden Hawk answer was swift, and thorough. The Hawks went on a 25-2 run that lasted more than 12 minutes to take a 27-14 lead into half. Out of intermission, the lead would grow was large as 20 before the Bulldogs made a push to get it back to 10. A 10-2 Golden Hawk run halted the MEPO threat and put away the win. Mid-Prairie won turnovers 19-13 and the glass by 11. The Hawks were led individually by senior Brady Weber and junior Bryce Henry who each posted 16 points, Henry had five boards and Weber five assists and four steals. Sophomore Brooks Weber got to double figures with 12, on four threes, all in the second quarter. Brady Weber joined the KCII postgame show to talk about the first half run and walking off the floor in Wellman for the last time as a winner.
Weber said, “Defense is what won us the game tonight, and rebounding, we had a huge advantage there. I knew we were on a run (in the first half), but 25-2 is huge. When you get stop and score, stop and score, stop and score, that’s a big confidence builder for everyone on the floor. It set the tone for the rest of the night. I love all of my teammates, but I am biased, my brother is my favorite teammate I have ever had. It’s awesome. He’s a sniper! He’s one of the best three point shooters I’ve ever seen. (On winning the senior’s last home game), same with football, it doesn’t really hit you until it’s done. It’s always great to go out with a win and we got to do that. I can’t wait to play more basketball!”
The Golden Hawks advance to their 34th district championship game in program history Tuesday and will try for their 20th district title against No. 7 West Burlington who was a 75-57 winner over Central Lee Thursday. You can hear all of the action live Tuesday night on KCII.