Close-knit Hawks ready for state

After suffering back-to-back losses in the middle of the season, it would have been easy for the Mid-Prairie girls? basketball team to stare at a .500 record and get down on themselves.

Following a Jan. 30 loss on the road to Durant, the Golden Hawks had lost four of its last five games (five of its last seven), and was looking at a 9-8 record.

The losses during that stretch were tight losses to good teams. A six-point loss to eventual Class 2A state qualifier Iowa City Regina, a four-point loss at home to Camanche, who hovered around the Class 3A rankings all season, and a four-point road loss to Class 2A, No. 15 ranked Durant, without the Hawks? leading scorer had Mid-Prairie in a slump.

However, they didn?t let that get to them.

?The team continued to grow and get better,? Mid-Prairie head coach Stephen Bender said. ?They stuck together. We were 9-8, and a lot of teams could say ?oh, we are about .500,? but we talked about it. We took a ranked team to the wire without our leading scorer; we?ve played a lot of teams really close. We can either sulk and pout, or improve.

?That?s the kind of people they are. They really get along and want this to be a special season.?

That mentality, and those personalities showed the rest of the season, as Mid-Prairie has rattled off seven straight wins, including three in the postseason, as the Hawks punched their ticket to play at Wells Fargo Arena in the class 3A state tournament.

To focus and rebound after a tough stretch, it takes a strong team mentality, and the Hawks feel that?s their biggest asset coming into the final week of the season.

?Our whole team gets along and we don?t fight,? Mid-Prairie senior Ally Wertz said. ?We have great chemistry on and off the court.?

Throughout this win streak, the Hawks have outscored opponents by an average of 22 points per game, and that has fed the competitive spirit of Mid-Prairie?s top scorer.

?I?m a big competitor, so I like to win,? junior Ali Butters, who leads the team with 12.1 points per game, said. ?I love competing and I love playing with our team. Our regional bracket has been fun, and now we are going to state.?

Mid-Prairie enters the state tournament with a 16-8 record after enduring a brutal schedule, that saw them go through the River Valley Conference, which is responsible for three state qualifiers this season (West Branch, Regina and Mid-Prairie).

Mid-Prairie also had two other opponents (Durant, Fairfield) also advance to regional finals this season.

After seeing some of the top competition in the state already, Bender thinks his team should be used to the speed they?ll see at ?the Well.?

?It?s a tough schedule,? Bender said. ?Hopefully that helps us a lot, because we?ve played some of the best teams in the state. It?s certainly more beneficial than playing a lot of teams that aren?t very good. The girls just need to be strong with the basketball, and understand the type of pressure we?ll see. Hopefully, they?ll be prepared for that.?

Mid-Prairie will be tested right away at state, facing Class 3A, No. 2 ranked Center Point-Urbana in the quarterfinals.

CPU boasts two sisters, Arika and Allison Wooldridge, who both average double figures, with 16.1 and 13.3 points per game respectively, while Allison leads the team in rebounding with 6.8 per game.

Bender understands the challenge those two will bring, but knows his team has the ability to move on.

?They are a good team,? Bender said. ?They have two sisters who are very good. They are tall, and they look to score. They come down the floor and the big difference between them and us is, if one of them gets the ball, they might make a few passes, but they are going to square up. They are looking to drive and shoot or dish to the other sister.

?We aren?t just going there to have fun,? Bender added. ?We are going there to win. We want to be up there more than one game. It will be a neat atmosphere for the girls.?

Tipoff for the Hawks will be at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday.