Golden Hawks blast girls, Demon boys survive rally

WELLMAN - It was going to be a mirror image of games for the Mid-Prairie and Washington boys and girls basketball teams Monday.

After the girls game ended 52-25 for Mid-Prairie, it looked to be a 27-point win for the Washington boys when the third quarter ended with a 51-28 advantage for the Demons.

Washington built the lead to that 27-pouint spread at 56-29 then the Golden Hawks flew into a press and scored 15 straight to get within 12 with 2 minutes, 42 seconds remaining in the game.

The Demons finally slowed things down and scored a 59-46 win in the nonconference battle for Washington County superiority.

Soccer has aggregate totals and if one were to do that, Mid-Prairie reigns.

Maddie Nonnenmann contributed to those bragging rights in the county with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists while teammate and former Demon Phelan Hostetler blocked four shots, snagged four rebounds and scored six points. Esther Hughes poured in 10 points for the Hawks.

The Demons Anna Nacos had eight of the her teams first nine points and Washington trailed 16-9 after a quarter, 19-14 with 3:08 til halftime. She did not score again. Makenna Conrad was the shortest player on the floor and led both teams in rebounds with eight, adding six points.

Nonnenmann buried a 3-pointer to open the second half and a 24-14 halftime score was 36-16 after three quarters.

'I have felt more comfortable out on the 3-point line because I spent a lot of time in the offseason practicing that shot,” said Nonnenmann, a 6-foot junior. 'My confidence is completely different since I'm an upperclassman now.”

She has an advantage with her height to shoot over player or find 'Phelan inside or somebody to pass to.”

The Demons confidence was a little too high after the success they had.

'I understand the kids are thinking this is over and taking shots they shouldn't and attacking when they shouldn't,” WHS head coach Collin Stark said. 'Next thing you know, it's a game. We have to understand that we have to focus.”

Washington had a 23-7 run in the third that stretched a lead that was built with a great start to the game, leading 17-7 after a quarter, 28-21 at the half.

It was a battle of 3-2 zone defenses which meant that 3-point shooting swayed the game for Washington with eight while the Hawks were 3-of-24.

'We need to find other ways to score when we are shooting that bad but we were 15-of-24 from the free-throw line. So we have to throw four to five passes and make them play defense,” Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert said. 'They had foul trouble so we needed to be a little bit more aggressive.”

Lucas Kroll sat for a lot of minutes in the first half and Demon teammate Travis Leyden ended up fouling out but contributed 13 points, four assists, six rebounds and two steals.

'Travis is doing a good job with the extra minutes he is getting,” Stark said. 'He doesn't press, he plays within himself, but everyone is stepping up with Kasen (Bailey) out.”

Ethan Patterson led the Demons with 20 points and handed out five assists. Lance Sobaski had 10 rebounds, eight points and five assists. Lucas Kroll put in eight points with three boards and three assists. The Demons had 21 assists as a team.

Mid-Prairie's leading assist man was Carter Harmsen with two.

'That's an issue,” Lambert said.

Harmsen had 12 rebounds and 16 points while Aidan Rath tallied 11 points and eight rebounds and Alex Bean scored 12.

Harmsen also had a steal and a dunk in the middle of the 15-point fourth-quarter run where the Hawks started the full-court press.

'Our pressure caught them off guard. When we are in a situation where we have no choice, it seems that is when we play our best,” Lambert said. 'But we have to play with that mentality from the start of the game. There's a lot to learn from this experience.”

The start of the game was when the Hawks made just one field goal in the first seven minutes. They also had one field goal in a seven-minute stretch of the third quarter.

'There are a lot of positives in this game for us,” Stark said. 'Our third quarter was fun to watch, one of the better quarters we've had all year.”