At home for the first time this year the Golden Hawks hosted West Branch in a River Valley conference matchup. Not being able to stage a comeback because of West Branch’s superb three-point shooting, Mid-Prairie was never able to grab a lead and lost 64-44 on January 17.

With this loss Mid-Prairie dropped to a 4-3 record in conference play. West Branch improves its record to 6-8 on the season with the win and bolster its conference play record to 5-2.

The Golden Hawks scored its first points at the 5:20 mark of the first quarter and that shot, scored by junior Dylan Henry, ended a 5-0 run by West Branch. Henry’s shot was the spark his team needed as the shots started to fall for  Mid-Prairie and the deficit was cut to just a single point.

Close to giving up its lead West Branch was able to find its countermeasure in the form of the three-ball. 

Making three three-pointers before the first quarter ended, with the last one being a far-way off balanced shot right before the buzzer that miraculously went in, West Branch was able to hold off the Golden Hawk’s potential comeback and went into the second quarter leading 24-13. 

“West Branch shot with confidence and hit shots early,” Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert said. “When teams have success early their confidence grows and those difficult shots become easier. Credit to them on their ability to hit shots and hit them at different times throughout the game.”

The second quarter was the lowest scoring quarter for both teams and coincidentally this was also the quarter where the fire alarm malfunctioned. Blaring a loud ear-piercing buzzer while small lights were flashing on and off, the game was stopped with 2:46 left in the quarter.  

Eventually the fire alarm ceased its noise and the game resumed but with 1:22 left in the quarter it went off again. When the louder than usual quarter finally ended Mid-Prairie found themselves trailing 34-19. 

Despite the peculiar nature of the second quarter coach Lambert did not believe the alarm affected his team’s play. 

“Not 100% sure on what the issue was with the fire alarm,” Lambert said about the malfunctioning fire alarm. “It didn’t impact the game, although there was a stoppage or two that may be out of the ordinary. The referees and the head coach from West Branch and I met and were told there was no emergency and it was a faulty alarm so we agreed we would play through any instances when it would go off.”

After halftime the alarm did indeed go off again, with 4:47 left in the third quarter, and the teams did play through this time. Fortunately the alarm only lasted for about a minute and it would be the last time it would malfunction during the game. 

The third quarter saw the Golden Hawks come out strong by sinking three-straight three pointers, two made by sophomore Brady Weber and one made by senior Camron Pickard, and were able to close in on West Branch. The Golden Hawks went on 11-2 run to cut the deficit to six points and this caused West Branch to take a timeout so they could regroup. 

The timeout proved to be just what the doctor ordered because West Branch was able to find its groove on offense and proceeded to outscore Mid-Prairie 12-6 to end the third quarter. 

“Offensively we struggled to finish shots around the rim at various points of the game,” Lambert said. “When we cut the lead after the half we did a much better job pushing the ball in transition, attacking the rim, and hitting open shots off of kick out drives.  Unfortunately we were unable to sustain doing those things into the 4th quarter.”

The final quarter saw the West Branch lead balloon up too large for the Golden Hawks to overcome. When the lead reached 24 points, with 1:11 left to play, the subs were brought in for West Branch. The game ended with a three-pointer from Mid-Prairie junior Landon Sullivan and the Golden Hawks ultimately lost by 20. 

made by senior Camron Pickard, and were able to close in on West Branch. The Golden Hawks went on 11-2 run to cut the deficit to six points and this caused West Branch to take a timeout so they could regroup. 

The timeout proved to be just what the doctor ordered because West Branch was able to find its groove on offense and proceeded to outscore Mid-Prairie 12-6 to end the third quarter. 

“Offensively we struggled to finish shots around the rim at various points of the game,” Lambert said. “When we cut the lead after the half we did a much better job pushing the ball in transition, attacking the rim, and hitting open shots off of kick out drives.  Unfortunately we were unable to sustain doing those things into the 4th quarter.”

The final quarter saw the West Branch lead balloon up too large for the Golden Hawks to overcome. When the lead reached 24 points, with 1:11 left to play, the subs were brought in for West Branch. The game ended with a three-pointer from Mid-Prairie junior Landon Sullivan and the Golden Hawks ultimately lost by 20. 

Mid-Prairie 65, West Liberty 44

Avoiding back-to-back losses the Golden Hawks went on the road to collect a 65-44 win over West Liberty on January 20. With this win Mid-Prairie improved its conference play record to 5-3. 

After ending the first quarter tied with West Liberty at nine points apiece, Mid-Prairie was able to take control of the game by scoring 23 points before halftime to take an 11 point lead. 

Not letting up on offense the Golden Hawks were able to outscore West Liberty in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter Mid-Prairie was able to hold West Liberty to single digit points to take a 21 point victory over its fellow River Valley Conference member. 

Mid-Prairie (9-6) stayed home and welcomed Durant (5-10) in a conference matchup on January 24. This was the second game between these two teams with the Golden Hawks winning the first matchup, 67-50, on December 16. 

Next up the Golden Hawks will be on the road when they travel to face Wilton (12-2) who sits at first place in the conference and are undefeated in conference play. This is the second time Mid-Prairie will play against Wilton this season. Wilton won the first matchup, 67-49, on December 13.

GAME STATS

Mid-Prairie 44, West Branch 64

Mid-Prairie       13     6   17    8  --  44

West Branch    24  10  14  16  --  64

Mid-Prairie 65, West Liberty 44

Mid-Prairie       9   23    15   18 --  65

West Liberty    9   12    14     9  -- 44