Photo Courtesy of MP Sports Social Media (Nicole Miller)
It was a season-opening sweep Monday night at Tim Grady Gymnasium in Wellman for the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls and boys basketball teams as they beat the Benton Bobcats in both ends of a non-conference doubleheader. The No. 15 in Class 3A Golden Hawk girls started with a 57-33 victory. Mid-Prairie used an 8-0 first quarter run to go up 8-2, only to see Benton claw back to tie the game at 12 late in the first. Brooklyn Schneider finished the opening stanza with a three to put Mid-Prairie back on top 15-12, and the Hawks would parlay that into an 18-2 run in total, putting Benton through a four minute scoring drought and nine minute field goal drought to go up 30-14 at half. Mid-Prairie won the second half 27-19, pushing their lead as high as 28. Following the game, Golden Hawk head coach Jenny Hobbs, a winner in her Mid-Prairie debut joined KCII Sports to talk about what stood out. “We were playing hard, and that’s one thing that we talk about. If you’re out there, you’re going to play defense. We took a couple punches in that first quarter and then we settled in and gave ourselves a chance to set up our press and let the horses run! I thought we boxed out and rebounded. We still have a lot to work on but, for your first game out, new system, new coach, I was pretty happy with it.”
The Golden Hawks shot 48% from the floor, finishing with 15 assists, 11 steals, winning turnovers 21-16 and rebounds 43-29. Four Hawks got to double figures, led by a double double 10 points and 10 rebounds from Jovi Evans. Tessa Bombei scored 11 and Jeorgia Evans and Morgyn Bender had 10 each. Mid-Prairie is now 1-0 on the year as Benton drops to 0-2.
The Golden Hawk boys secured the sweep with a 69-40 victory. The Hawks led 28-7 after one, thanks to a 20-0 run in the opening period. A 10-0 Golden Hawk run in the second put Mid-Prairie up 44-19 at half. The Hawks won the second half 25-21, enacting the running clock midway through the fourth quarter. Following the contest, Golden Hawk of the Game, senior Hudson Ehrenfelt, joined KCII Sports to talk about the keys to the win. “Coach always talks about attacking the rim, and right off the bat, we came out and set the standard. I got to the rim and finished. On defense you have to rebound. Can’t give up any second chance opportunities. We were running, we were dishing it, we were making shots. It’s good to see everybody eat and share the rock. It’s fun to see all the playmakers on the floor, anybody can make shots when needed. Loose balls, everybody was there. Defense was great, and everybody was making shots.”
Mid-Prairie won the glass by 14 and turnovers 21-16. Twelve different Golden Hawks scored, four got to double figures, led by 13 from Ehrenfelt, Bryce Henry and Brooks Weber each had 11 and Carson Humphrey 10. The Golden Hawks are 1-0 as Benton falls to 0-1 on the year. The Mid-Prairie boys and girls travel to Camanche on Friday.