An important basketball doubleheader in River Valley Conference play took place Friday night at Tipton when the home Tigers hosted the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks. With a share of first place in the conference on the line, the No. 13 Golden Hawk girls fell to the No. 11 Tigers 46-44. The game was played in a tight window, with neither team holding a lead of more than five. The Tigers were up 10-9 after one quarter and 23-21 at half. Mid-Prairie used a 9-2 third quarter run to claim the lead at 35-31 going to the fourth. A Tipton fourth quarter surge of 8-0 gave them the lead once again. Down two, Mid-Prairie had a couple of shots to tie or win the game in the final 15 seconds, but came up short. Following the contest, head coach Jenny Hobbs talked about her team’s effort and what decided the game.
Hobbs
The Tigers won rebounding by four and each team committed 15 turnovers. Tipton got a 15 point 11 rebound day from Jordyn Schmidt, Ella Hein added 11 points. Morgyn Bender scored 13 for the Golden Hawks and Jovi Evans 10. Mid-Prairie drops to 7-5 overall and 5-2 in the RVC while Tipton is alone atop the conference at 7-0 and 12-1 overall.
The boys game saw a Mid-Prairie milestone and the Golden Hawks run away in the second half for a 70-40 win. Leading 27-20 at half, the Hawks outscored Tipton 45-18 after the break, including 24-6 in the fourth quarter to seal the win. During the final period, Golden Hawk senior Bryce Henry scored a lay-up to finish a fast break for the 1,000th point in his Mid-Prairie career. Henry spoke live on the postgame show about the win and the accomplishment.
Bryce
The Golden Hawks won the boards by 11 and turnovers 17-11. Henry led with 21 points, Kale Miller added 13 and Brooks Weber 11. Colton Marchik had 21 for Tipton. Mid-Prairie is 8-3 with the win and 5-2 in conference while Tipton stays winless through 11 games.