The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk girls and boys basketball teams took a twinbill from River Valley Conference foe Tipton Tuesday night at Tim Grady Gymnasium.
In a top 15 battle, the No. 13 Golden Hawks took down the No. 11 Tigers 52-42. Mid-Prairie used a 12-1 first quarter run to take a lead they wouldn’t give up the rest of the night. They were on top 12-8 after one and 24-20 at half. Tipton hung around until late in the third when Mid-Prairie put together 11 straight points to stretch the lead to as many as 15 to finish the win. Following the contest, Golden Hawk of the Game Katelyn Harland joined the KCII Postgame Show to talk about the victory. “I think (my favorite three) was the last one, it was just a perfect swish. I didn’t have time to think about it, I just shot it, and I knew when I let it go it was going to go in. We knew from the last game Tipton was going to be very physical. They use their posts a lot. We focused on making sure we had backside help and being strong with the ball. We moved the ball a lot on offense. It’s really fun because we’re all so talented and can do so many things. I have so much trust in all my teammates. To be a part of the scoring tonight was really fun for me.”
The Hawks won turnovers 16-14, Tipton took rebounds by five. Mid-Prairie put three in double figures, led by a career high 16 points for Harland that included four threes. Jovi Evans scored 15 and Morgyn Bender 14. The Golden Hawks are 14-5 with the win, 10-2 in conference play, one game back of the Tigers. The loss snaps Tipton’s 13-game winning streak and is their first in the league this year as they stand at 16-2 overall and 10-1 respectively.
The Golden Hawk boys were wire-to-wire winners over the Tigers 77-36. Mid-Prairie sprinted on a 26-5 run to start the game and never looked back. They led 51-23 at half. The Hawks outscored the Tigers after intermission 24-12, including 15-1 in the fourth quarter to enact the running clock. Golden Hawk of the Game Tristan Koller joined the KCII Postgame Show to talk about the keys to the win. “We came out with intensity. That showed tonight. Coach has been on us lately for that. It’s fun (to press) but gets tiring. Our sets were working well. People were hitting shots. It’s cool to see (so many guys score) and it’s nice to not have to depend on one person every night. I was driving to the hoop and shooting threes. (I’ve improved) by not hesitating. I was hesitant at the start of the year and confidence has come now.”
The Hawks won turnovers 22-6 and rebounding by 19. Ten total Golden Hawks scored, led by 16 points for Brooks Weber, Bryce Henry added 13 and Bo Pennington 11. Mid-Prairie is 13-5 with the win and 9-3 conference while Tipton stays winless in the RVC and sits at 1-16 overall.