MOUNT VERNON

The Golden Hawks were still flying Saturday.

Less than 24 hours after knocking off West Liberty in a River Valley Conference showdown, Mid-Prairie’s girls basketball squad scored the first 14 points in its River Valley Shootout game against Bellevue at Cornell College.

Senior forward Landry Pacha, who had a career-high 17 rebounds plus the two winning free throws in the win against West Liberty, scored 9 points in the first quarter against Bellevue. The Golden Hawks gave up just three points in the opening quarter and scored 16 on the way to a 49-34 victory.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” Golden Hawks coach Danny Hershberger said. “I’m really proud of the way the girls came out.”

After that 14-point run, Mid-Prairie (10-5) cruised to its fifth straight win to start off the new year. Bellevue (9-6) closed the gap to 22-16 late in the second quarter, but a basket by Nora Pennington with less than a minute left and a free throw by Kylie Reinier with 1.5 seconds left built the Golden Hawks momentum again.

Pacha scored a team-high 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, mostly in the paint.

“She does a great job of finishing around the basket,” Hershberger said.

Senior point guard Amara Jones had a team-high 7 steals. Pacha had 4 rebounds, 3 steals and a blocked shot.

Josie Greiner hit a team-high three 3-pointers.

Mid-Prairie extended its win streak to six Monday night with a 61-51 win over Mount Pleasant. The Golden Hawks host Durant Tuesday night at 6.

M-P 50

West Liberty 48

Mid-Prairie senior forward Landry Pacha hit two free throws with 1.6 seconds left, sending the Golden Hawks to a 50-48 win at West Liberty last Friday.

Pacha grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds and scored 9 points.

The win was the first for the Golden Hawks at West Liberty since 2018, and was just their second victory over the Comets in their last 10 meetings.

The score was tied 48-48 when Maya Nonnenmann found Pacha near the basket. On a move toward the hoop, Pacha was fouled and awarded two free throws.

Nora Pennington, a junior, led Mid-Prairie with 11 points.

West Liberty’s Kelsey Joens scored a game-high 25 points and also had 14 rebounds.

GAME STATS

MID-PRAIRIE 49, BELLEVUE 34

Mid-Prairie   16    9   12   12 --  49

Bellevue          3   13    6   12 --  34

Mid-Prairie scoring: Landry Pacha 12, Josie Greiner 9, Maya Nonnenmann 8, Nora Pennington 7, Amara Jones 5, Kylie Reinier 4, Jovi Evans 2, Brylee Gearhart 2.

Mid-Prairie rebounding leaders: Jones 6, Reinier 6.

MID-PRAIRIE 50, WEST LIBERTY 48

Mid-Prairie      10   13   10   17  --  50

West Liberty   14     3     8   23   --  48

Mid-Prairie scoring: Nora Pennington 11, Landry Pacha 9, Kylie Reinier 8, Callie Huber 8, Amara Jones 6, Josie Greiner 3, Jovi Evans 2, Brylee Gearhart 2, Maya Nonnenmann 1.

West Liberty scoring: Kelsey Joens 25, Finley Hall 11, Sophie Buysse 6, Brooklyn Buysse 4, Pearson Hall 2.

Mid-Prairie rebounding leaders: Pacha 17, Jones 4, Nonnenmann 4, Pennington 4.