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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Golden Hawks hang tough
No. 12 Mid-Prairie girls nearly knock off No. 1 Mt. Vernon
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MT. VERNON — If one thing was clear in Mt. Vernon on Saturday night, it was that the Mid-Prairie girls basketball team was there for a fight.
The 13th-ranked Golden Hawks had a mountain to climb against state-favored and top-ranked Mt. Vernon, but Mid-Prairie gave the Mustangs all they can handle in what turned out to be one of the best girls basketball games of the weekend in the state of Iowa.
Unfortunately for a rowdy group of traveling Mid-Prairie fans, the top-ranked Mustangs had just enough to get over the finish line, knocking the Golden Hawks out 58-50.
“I knew they were going to bring it,” said Mid-Prairie head coach Jenny Hobbs. “These kids have played to go to state volleyball, and ran state track, and all those sorts of things, and our effort has never been a problem.”
Mid-Prairie showed it was for real early on. Though Mt Vernon held a 10-point lead in the second quarter, the Golden Hawks were able to cut it all the way down to one point before eventually being down 28-25 at the halftime break.
Mid-Prairie tied the game in the third, cashing in on a step-back three by Jovi Evans. The Golden Hawks used another big three from Evans to take a short-lived lead in the fourth.
“People back down because they have such good guards,” Hobbs said. “We’re going to get up and challenge, and we’re never going to back down.”
Tessa Bombei, who led Mid-Prairie with 11 first-half points, scored a big bucket down the stretch when she gave Mid-Prairie a 48-47 lead on a contested layup with 3:14 remaining in the game. Unfortunately for the Golden Hawks, Mt. Vernon grabbed two offensive rebounds on the next possession, and the second turned into a Mustang go-ahead bucket.
Mt Vernon would finish the game on an 11-2 run to finally fend off a feisty Mid-Prairie squad.
Bombei finished with 16 points to lead Mid-Prairie. Evans had 15. Brooklyn Schneider finished with eight. Morgyn Bender had six. Jeorgia Evans and Olivia Swartzentruber finished with two each, and Katelyn Harland chipped in with one.
Mid-Prairie ended the season 18-6. Mt. Vernon, meanwhile, will take a 22-2 record into the Class 3A state tournament, where the Mustangs will have the No. 1 overall seed.
Dunkerton 70, Keota 42
The only other Union area team to make it to the weekend was Keota. The Eagles fell in the Class 1A Region 6 semifinals, getting knocked out by top-seeded Dunkerton.
Cameron Haifley scored 22 points to lead Keota in defeat. Emily Conger finished with nine points. Jessalyn Aller had seven. Elyse Lyle scored three, and Karley Greiner finished with one.
Keota ended the season 18-6. It was the best record for Keota girls basketball since the 2010-2011 campaign, where the Eagles finished with the same final record.
