Mid-Prairie runs away from Pekin in overtime

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 12/20/22

Mid-Prairie was in danger of taking a third straight loss, trailing Pekin 47-44 with 30 seconds left in Thursday’s game. 

But Golden Hawk senior Alex Bean came through in a critical …

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Mid-Prairie runs away from Pekin in overtime

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Mid-Prairie was in danger of taking a third straight loss, trailing Pekin 47-44 with 30 seconds left in Thursday’s game. 

But Golden Hawk senior Alex Bean came through in a critical moment. 

His 3-pointer with seven seconds left sent the game into overtime, where the Golden Hawks ran away with a 63-49 win. 

“We spent so much energy just trying to get back into the game and tie it up,” Mid-Prairie coach Daren Lambert said. “It was stressful. It was intense. 

“But then when we were going into that overtime, in the huddle you could just see the weight lifted off their shoulders and we truly played it like it was a brand new ball game.”

Mid-Prairie closed the game on a 19-2 run, sparked by Bean’s tying 3-pointer. Lambert drew up the play to get two or three points with 30 seconds left. 

“We drew a setup that was a ball screen with Shawn (Dodds),” Lambert said, “Camron (Pickard) coming off the ball screen and then we had a flare screen for Alex kind of drifting to a corner.”

There was traffic in the paint, so Pickard passed the ball to Bean for the three. It missed, but the Golden Hawks corralled the long rebound and fed Bean again, who took advantage of the extra opportunity. 

Mid-Prairie was outscored 13-6 in the second quarter and trailed by two points at halftime. 

“The first half in general, I think we probably missed at least 15 shots within five feet of the rim,” Lambert said. “Whether it was not finishing strong or rushing our shot. We left a lot of points very close to the rim.”

Mid-Prairie shot under 30 percent for the game and under 20 percent from the three point line. 

But the free throw line was a different story as the Golden Hawks got to the line for 25 attempts, converting 21. 

Mid-Prairie was led by its seniors, including Bean, who was 6-for-6 from the free throw line for 23 points, six steals and three assists in the win. Dodds finished with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, which included eight on the offensive glass. Pickard finished with 15 points. 

Dylan Henry was 5-of-6 from the free throw line, where he scored all of his points. Brady Weber was perfect from the line for all four of his points. He also grabbed seven rebounds and had five steals. 

While Mid-Prairie struggled offensively, the Panthers started to find a rhythm. After scoring just seven points in the first quarter, Pekin had success from the 3-point line, scoring 30 over the next two. 

“It put us in a tough spot,” Lambert said, “but we definitely figured it out in the second half.”

 

Mid-Prairie 67, Durant 50

The Golden Hawks were in a two-point game at halftime again the following day in Durant, but pulled away in the second half to even their conference record at 2-2. 

“It was one of those games that we knew was going to be difficult because Durant always plays tough, “ Lambert said. “But we really started to defend extremely well in the second half. I thought that’s what carried us through and created easy offense for us.”

Bean had another great day at the free throw line, converting 7-of-9 attempts to finish with 18 points and three steals. Pickard shot 7-of-12 from the floor, scoring a team-high 19. 

Henry finished with 15 points and Weber led the Golden Hawks with three assists. Beau Flynn made all three of his shot attempts to finish with seven. 

 

Wilton 67, Mid-Prairie 49

The 4th-ranked Beavers snapped a 13-game losing streak in the series with a statement win over the Golden Hawks on Tuesday. 

Wilton closed each of the first two quarters with a 10-2 run and led 29-17 at halftime. 

Caden Kirkman, a 6-foot-7 senior, scored 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting. He grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked two shots. Kirkman even hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first half after entering the game with just one made over the first three contests.

Aidan Walker scored 17 for Wilton, and Henry led Mid-Prairie with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the 3-point line. Bean added 12 points for the Golden Hawks, who lost the turnover battle 17-11 and shot just 28 percent from the field. 

 

Solon 75, Mid-Prairie 66

Mid-Prairie cut into a 12-point halftime deficit to pull within 57-53 with a quarter to play on Monday, but couldn’t keep up with the Spartan offense in a 75-66 loss. 

Spartan leading scorer Jake Benzing finished with a game-high 28 points. 

Camron Pickard led the Golden Hawks with 18 points and seven assists. Both Pickard and Alex Bean made all four of the their free throw attempts. 

Shooting 71.6 percent from the line for the season, the Golden Hawks rank fourth in class 2A and 16th in the state.

Bean finished with 12 points on Monday. Collin Miller was 3-of-5 from the 3-point line for nine points. Dylan Henry and Ace Peck each scored eight and Beau Flynn added six.