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Area teams battle at Mid-Prairie jamboree
Mt. Pleasant, Pekin join Golden Hawks in night of hoops
WELLMAN — Three Union area basketball teams were on the court at Mid-Prairie on Monday night, as the Golden Hawks hosted a boys basketball jamboree right before Thanksgiving break.
Mt. Pleasant and Pekin both joined the Golden Hawks, along with five other squads in one-half scrimmage games ahead of next week when the regular season will begin.
Mt. Pleasant started things off, taking on West Branch in the opener. The Panthers trailed by as much as 10 points, and were behind 22-13 at halftime, but Mt. Pleasant stormed back to win 31-29.
“We came out a little bit slow,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Eric Rawson. “We want to be ready to go right from the tip. It was good to see the team lock in defensively in the second quarter.”
The Panthers took the lead for good when Payton Hagans dove in for a layup in the last 30 seconds. On the other end, Avin Truong took a charge right before the buzzer to stop a would-be West Branch game-tying layup.
“I was really impressed with Avin Truong defensively tonight,” Rawson said. “He guarded their best player, and he did really well defensively on him.”
Hagans ended the night with 14 points. Nate Stroud scored nine.
After Central Lee took down Sigourney in the second game, it was time for Pekin to hit the court. The Panthers went toe-to-toe with Tipton, and much like Mt. Pleasant, Pekin got off to a slow start.
Pekin trailed 20-6 at halftime. The Panthers eventually find their groove offensively, but it was too little, too late in a 41-21 loss.
“ It was our first test, and definitely a slow start,” said Pekin head coach John Swanson. “We finally got some energy plays and some hustle plays to get a couple of buckets, and then we started to get some juice on our side.”
Will Adam led the way for Pekin with five points. Sven Dahlstrom, Brady McWhirter and Kasey Davis each had four points.
Mid-Prairie’s start against Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont rivaled that of Mt. Pleasant and Pekin. The Golden Hawks went down 8-0 early and had to call a timeout to get the team settled down.
“In the timeout, we talked about what was putting us in that situation,” said Golden Hawks coach Daren Lambert. “I kind of reminded them in the timeout that we have to turn the corner and attack the rim.”
Mid-Prairie would storm back to beat the Rockets 41-37. The Golden Hawks sank eight threes on the night, including three from Brady Weber, who finished with 11 points. Brock Harland scored 10 points, and Bryce Henry finished with eight.
“We've got a lot of great shooters,” Lambert said. “We just have to make sure to give those shooters opportunities to get those looks, and we did a great job of that.”
All three teams will have the week off from games due to the break. The boys’ regular season begins on Monday for Mt. Pleasant, and on Tuesday for both Wapello and Pekin.
