WELLMAN

Mid-Prairie’s Golden Hawks didn’t need to be reminded what Friday night’s game against Class 2A power Camanche meant.

After all, Camanche had ended the last two seasons for the Golden Hawks in the substate tournament and had defeated Mid-Prairie nine consecutive times dating back to 2014.

“Right out of the locker room, we knew this means something,” Mid-Prairie senior guard Will Cavanagh said. “We had a big win against Williamsburg and Northeast, but when you play Camanche …”

When senior guard Jack Pennington drilled two free throws with 6.4 seconds left to lock down the Golden Hawks’ 51-46 victory over the Storm, Mid-Prairie fans rose in anticipation of an historic win as the seconds counted down.

Cavanagh jumped into the arms of a teammate.

Ethan Kos, a senior center, jumped into the air with junior forward Shawn Dodds.

Pennington and his teammates celebrated the Golden Hawks’ 14^th consecutive win in a season that may still create another Mid-Prairie vs. Camanche showdown in the Class 2A substate final.

“This one finally feels good. We’re proving ourselves to people,” said Pennington, who scored five points in the final 50 seconds. “I mean, we’ve got some good wins this year, but I think people are still down on us. I think now, I think we’ve earned the respect we deserve.

“This one does mean a lot.”

Camanche (12-2), a state tournament quarterfinalist last year and a state semifinalist in 2020 when it pounded the Golden Hawks by more than 40 points in the substate, has lost only to River Valley North leader Monticello and River Valley South leader Mid-Prairie.

“They’re a traditional powerhouse in 2A basketball,” Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert said, “so when you can get a win against them, you celebrate it.”

Golden Hawks senior forward Carter Harmsen set the tone early, scoring eight points in the opening quarter as Mid-Prairie quickly pulled ahead by eight points, 14-6. Harmsen added another eight points in the second quarter and wound up with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds, both game highs.

Zane Witt, a 6-foot-8 junior forward, led Camanche with 17 points and 7 rebounds.

The Storm cut away at Mid-Prairie’s lead in the third quarter, trimming it to two points, 31-29, on a 3-pointer by Michael Delzell, ending a 9-2 run. From there, it was an end-to-end battle until the final minute of the game when the Storm still trailed by just two points, 48-46.

The last 33 seconds featured a parade of Golden Hawks and Storm players to the free throw line, but only Pennington (12 points, 4 rebounds) was able to hit the mark. He converted 3-of-4 tries down the stretch. Outside of that, both teams combined for 0-for-6.

But when Pennington’s final two free throws bounced off the rim and through the hoop for a 5-point edge, the celebration began for a Mid-Prairie victory that hadn’t happened in eight years.

“As you keep getting wins, some of the wins that you get are expected just because of the record of the other team, but Camanche has been a team that has ended our season a few times,” Lambert said. “They’ve beat us pretty bad in the past few years that we’ve been here. So it’s one of those teams, you want to check it off the list.”

Cavanagh is just one of the Golden Hawks who has waited for this moment. And he knows everything changes now.

“That’s what we want. We want a target on our back,” said Cavanagh, who scored 4 points and had 3 assists. “We want to be good. We’re tired of not being respected.”