Golden Hawks headed to state

Senior Mallory McArtor made a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of Saturday?s Class 3A Region 6 final to clinch Mid-Prairie?s 36-32 win over Williamsburg for the school?s first state tournament berth since 2004.

The 13

^th

-ranked Golden Hawks led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, but Williamsburg rallied to within two points with 1:14 remaining in the game. Senior Mariah Swartzentruber made two free throws to push Mid-Prairie?s lead back to four, but the Raiders answered with a basket. Then, after a Golden Hawk turnover, Williamsburg sophomore Claire Simmons went to the free-throw line with a chance to tie the game. But she missed both, and McArtor made one of two free throws at the other end. Simmons made one of two free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining to again pull the Raiders to within two, but McArtor made two foul shots to seal the win.

McArtor scored 10 points to lead Mid-Prairie (18-7), which will face second-ranked MOC-Floyd Valley (23-1) in a state quarterfinal game at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26. Senior Jessie Butters added nine points and six rebounds for the Golden Hawks, and senior Erika Murphy had eight points and six boards.

Junior Paige Greiner scored a game-high 18 points to lead Williamsburg, which finished its season with a record of 17-8.