The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams started the River Valley Conference season Friday with a pair of wins over the visiting West Branch Bears in Wellman. The No. 13 in Class 3A Golden Hawk girls rolled in a 66-27 victory to start the night. Mid-Prairie led 12-8 six minutes into the game, then finished the half on a 30-1 run to take a 40-9 lead to half. The Golden Hawks would also come out of break on a 10-0 run. The sprint in total saw Mid-Prairie score 40 of 41 points in that stretch, hold West Branch without a point for nine total minutes, without a field goal for more than 16 minutes and force the Bears into 14 turnovers. Leading 57-18 after three, the Hawks enacted the running clock and finished the win. Following the contest, Golden Hawk of the Game Morgyn Bender talked with KCII Sports about the win for her and her team.

Morgyn

Mid-Prairie shot 46% as a team, won the glass 31-12, had 23 steals, 19 assists, and had six blocked shots. Eight different Golden Hawks scored with Morgyn Bender and Jeorgia Evans 12 points each leading the way. Bender had four steals. Brooklyn Schneider scored 11 and Jovi Evans 10 with seven rebounds. Katelyn Harland added four assists. The Hawks are now 3-1 on the year and 1-0 in conference with West Branch at 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the league.

The Mid-Prairie boys withstood a deep ball barrage from the Bears and held on for a 65-57 victory. The Golden Hawks were up 16-15 after one and closed the first half on a 9-0 run to take a lead they wouldn’t give up the rest of the night at 29-22 going into break. Out of the locker room, the Bears heated up from downtown, knocking down nine threes, getting as close as four late, but the Hawks made plays down the stretch to close the win. Following the contest, Golden Hawk of the Game Bryce Henry joined KCII Sports to talk about his night and the team’s win.

Bryce

The Hawks shot 39%, were beaten by five on the glass and lost turnovers 14-11. Henry’s 22 points and eight boards led Mid-Prairie in the win. Hudson Ehrenfelt scored 14 and Carson Humphrey came up with 12. The Golden Hawks are unbeaten at 3-0, 1-0 in conference while the Bears land at 2-2 and 0-1 respectively.