WEST BRANCH

Grabbing their second River Valley Conference victory of the week, Mid-Prairie weathered a potential fourth quarter comeback and defeated the West Branch Bears, 57-53, on Dec. 8. 

This was the first time in the young season Mid-Prairie was able to string together back-to-back wins, giving themselves a 4-2 record on the year. 

The Bears came into this Friday night conference showdown with no wins on the season, but proficient three-point shooting kept them neck and neck with the Golden Hawks all throughout this contest. 

West Branch attempted 40 shots from three, making 14, and Mid-Prairie attempted 16 shots from three, making eight. 

Thanks to a shot from three-point range West Branch broke an 18-18 tie to go up by three near the end of the second quarter, but Mid-Prairie also proved to be quite competent from three. 

Making two threes to end the quarter, one by freshman Brooklyn Schneider and one by fellow freshman Morgyn Bender, put the Golden Hawks up by three at the half, but the three-point shots continued to fall in the second half. 

Opening the pivotal third frame with a 13-6 run, the Bears took back the lead, but just like they have been doing all game, Mid-Prairie stayed poised and responded in kind. 

A barrage of points from the Golden Hawks, ending the quarter on a 17-3 run, gave them a 10-point lead with one quarter left to play. 

This double-digit deficit proved to be too steep for the Bears to climb out of. West Branch won the quarter, 16-10, but they were never able to retake the lead or even tie the game. The 53 points they scored in this loss is their season high.

Leading all scorers with 18 points was West Branch senior Kylie Pickett. Pickett made a team high six three-pointers and secured six rebounds. 

For Mid-Prairie it was another game where they had a well-balanced scoring attack, four Golden Hawks ended the night with their point total in double figures. 

Schneider, the top-scoring freshman in the River Valley South, went a perfect 3/3 from three-point range to lead the Golden Hawks with 17 points. 

Recording a double double, junior Callie Huber put up 12 points to go along with a team high 13 rebounds. Through six games Huber is Mid-Prairie’s leading scorer with 68 points. 

Senior captain Nora Pennington was reliable on defense and offense, scoring 10 and tallying a team high five steals. On the year Pennington leads Mid-Prairie with 25 steals. 

Mid-Prairie 61, West Liberty 33

In their first River Valley Conference contest of the season, the Golden Hawks went on the road and played an excellent defensive game, collecting a victory over the West Liberty Comets on Dec. 5. 

While Mid-Prairie’s offense was proficient in this game, scoring 20 in the first and second quarter, it was the defense that truly cemented the win.

At the half the Comets were held to just 14 points. The third frame saw West Liberty score three points, their quarter low of the game. With Mid-Prairie playing so stout on defense they put the brakes on any potential West Liberty comeback. 

Junior Callie Huber led the Golden Hawks with 12 points, shooting 5/8 from the field and grabbing eight rebounds. Also entering double figures was sophomore Jovi Evans. Evans scored 10 to go along with three steals.   

The Golden Hawks went on the road and battled Wilton (2-5) on Dec. 12. Up next for Mid-Prairie (4-2) is a home matchup against the Durant Wildcats (1-4) on Dec. 15. Mid-Prairie has won the last seven games against Durant.