Golden Hawks sweep series with West Liberty

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 2/10/21

The Mid-Prairie boys were supposed to travel to West Liberty on December 1 to play the first game of the regular season. But the Comets weren’t there.

West Liberty had transitioned to …

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Golden Hawks sweep series with West Liberty

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The Mid-Prairie boys were supposed to travel to West Liberty on December 1 to play the first game of the regular season. But the Comets weren’t there.

West Liberty had transitioned to virtual learning on November 10 and did not return to the classroom until January 7.

 The Golden Hawk girls visited West Liberty on December 21, but the Mid-Prairie boys were on quarantine at the time. 

Finally, on Saturday the Golden Hawk boys made the trip to West Liberty and left with a 68-45 win. Two days later Mid-Prairie hosted the Comets in a rematch and made it a clean sweep with a 59-25 final score.

While Mid-Prairie would end up winning the two games by a total margin of nearly 60 points, the Golden Hawks had just a 32-29 lead at halftime on Saturday.

On Monday, Mid-Prairie opened the game with a 12-0 run, and added a 19-0 run in the second quarter.

“That defensive effort was much better,” Mid-Prairie coach Daren Lambert said on Monday. “It’s getting guys to buy into that defensive end and realizing that hard work on defense usually leads to easy things on offense. It's just kind of how basketball works.

“We weren't pleased with how we started that game. So we knew you get them right away again on Monday, and we want to start quick and start faster.”

Carter Harmsen had 29 points and 12 rebounds on Saturday, and added 17 points, nine boards, and four blocks on Monday. Will Cavanagh, Alex Bean, Harmsen and Jack Pennington made four consecutive 3-pointers during the Golden Hawks’ 19-0 second quarter run.

“We really had good ball movement, passing it in and out of the post to get open shots on the wings,” Harmsen said on Monday. “And we also got Aidan (Rath) involved. I think he had 10 points in the first half on just easy dump ins for layups.”

Rath finished with 12 points and eight rebounds and Alex Bean had 11. Cavanagh, Pennington and Harmsen each had three assists. Luke Boyse had three steals.

 “I think we learned a lot,” Harmsen said about the playing the same opponent twice in three days.

“The first game, we came out slow and had to adjust to them, but the second game we knew what to expect. I guess we came into it more prepared.”

On Saturday, Bean had 17 points, six rebounds, and three steals as Mid-Prairie pulled away for the win. Pennington had 11 assists and three steals. Ethan Kos had eight points, and Cavanagh added six points and three steals.

The Golden Hawks (12-6) could potentially see West Liberty again soon for a third meeting, if the Comets (3-13) were to upset Regina (6-9) in a district quarterfinal on February 15.