Photo Courtesy of Mid-Prairie CSD Social Media

Life on the road in the River Valley Conference is never easy, and the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls and boys basketball teams were reminded of that in a doubleheader Tuesday at Alburnett.

The No. 12 in Class 3A Mid-Prairie girls passed their road test 69-54. The game was bruiser with high-level defensive physicality. The Hawks led 13-10 after one and used a 14-2 second quarter run to go up 30-21 at half. The score stood at 48-37 going to the fourth. Alburnett made a push late and out of a Golden Hawk time out at the four minute mark of the fourth, the Hawks scored the next 13 to put the game away. Following the contest, Golden Hawk of the Game, sophomore Jeorgia Evans joined the KCII Postgame Show to talk about her team’s defense and handling physical play. “I think it was a little rough at first but, we talked about it and, our practices are always physical so we can handle it. We knew that at some point it’s going to be that way and we just had to get through it as a team. (Defensively), it’s about trusting your teammates on where they’re going to go and getting back to not let them get in fast breaks. I really liked our communication. We have been struggling there and we really stepped that up tonight.”

The Golden Hawks won turnovers 32-25, but were outrebounded by seven. Three Hawks were in double figures with Jovi Evans scoring 17 to go with seven steals and six rebounds. Tessa Bombei had 12 points, and Morgyn Bender 11. Miranda Neighbor led Alburnett with 11 points. The Golden Hawks rise to 6-2 with the win and stand at 4-0 in conference while Alburnett dips to 5-3 and 2-1 respectively.

In the boys contest, Alburnett handed the Hawks their first conference loss 60-49. Mid-Prairie got off to a good start offensively and were on top 16-15 after one. An 8-0 Pirate run in the second gave them a 27-20 lead at half. Down nine in the third, Mid-Prairie put together 11 straight points, the first nine from Bryce Henry to take their final lead of the night at 31-29 before Alburnett answered immediately with nine straight to lead 40-33 going to the fourth. The Pirates finished the fourth outscoring Mid-Prairie 20-16. Alburnett won the glass by eight and turnovers 16-13. The Pirates had four get double figures with 20 from Caiden Bueckers. Henry led the Hawks in scoring with 21 total points, 18 in the second half, Brooks Weber added 14. Each team is now 3-1 in the RVC with Alburnett at 4-4 overall and Mid-Prairie 5-2.