SOLON

Solon’s unbeaten boys basketball team flexed its power early in a Dec. 21 game against Mid-Prairie.

The Spartans scored early.

Their defense shut down the Golden Hawks.

A few minutes in, Solon had scored 14 of the game’s first 15 points and seemed comfortably on its way to a seventh consecutive victory.

Not so fast.

Mid-Prairie battled back, took a one-point lead in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Ace Peck and nearly knocked off the Spartans, who are ranked fourth in the state in Class 3A and was a district finalist last year.

Solon held off the Golden Hawks for a 66-62 win.

Peck hit a game-high five 3-pointers for the Golden Hawks and scored 17 points.

Three Solon starting seniors combined to score 46 points, led by Rylen Stiegelmeyer’s 18.

“The first quarter, it was rough,” Golden Hawks head coach Daren Lambert said. “They were hitting shots. We struggled a little bit, they hit shots.”

Then, the Golden Hawks tightened defensively in the second quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Peck and Brock Harland trimmed an 11-point deficit to just 39-34 at halftime.

“It’s easy in those situations, especially with high school kids, to kind of throw it in and just go through the motions,” Lambert said. “These guys fought the entire time.”

Midway through the third quarter, the Golden Hawks tied the game at 41-41 on a 3-pointer by Landon Sullivan.

“There was an energy tonight of guys wanting to fight,” Lambert said.

A free throw by Sullivan gave Mid-Prairie a 53-52 lead in the fourth quarter, but Solon went on an 8-2 run to take the lead for good. A 3-pointer by Peck and a free throw by Brady Weber cut the deficit to one point again, 63-62. But the Spartans put the game away in the final minute on free throws by seniors Austin Knight and Vince Steinbrech.

The game was the closest Solon has encountered this season.

“I don’t think they expected a game like this,” Lambert said. “Common opponent, West Branch, they look at a score and see that we lost by over 35. I’m sure they thought it was going to be easy and our guys came ready to play.”

The pre-Christmas game was the start of a stretch that will see the Golden Hawks take on Williamsburg (5-1), ranked No. 10 in 3A, on Jan. 8 and Iowa City Regina (7-2), a River Valley South rival, the next night.

GAME STATS

SOLON 66, MID-PRAIRIE 62

Mid-Prairie  12    22   12   16  -- 62

Solon            25    14   13   14  -- 66

Mid-Prairie scoring: Ace Peck 17, Landon Sullivan 12, Brady Weber 12, Bryce Henry 7, Dylan Henry 5, Brock Harland 5, Beau Flynn 4.

Solon scoring: Rylen Stiegelmeyer 18, Jake Benzing 17, Vince Steinbrech 11, Austin Knight 5, Isaiah Zoske 5, Will Cusick 5, Jackson Link 5.

Mid-Prairie leading rebounders: Dylan Henry 4, Peck 3, Weber 3, Wiles 3, Bryce Henry 3.

Solon leading rebounders: Knight 8, Benzing 8, Steinbrech 4.