Golden Hawks stay undefeated

WELLMAN — The Mid-Prairie boys left 2021 undefeated and are continuing that streak into 2022, adding to the total with a win over Wilton, 62-51.

The Golden Hawks came out Tuesday night on a mission. With a non-traditional Christmas break, which included a trip to Kansas City to participate in the 12 Courts of Christmas event, Mid-Prairie had to turn up the intensity.

“We got the win on Tuesday in Kansas City,” Mid-Prairie head coach Daren Lambert said. “We played physical, we took five days off and came back. We needed it, I needed it, they needed it. We came back and had four really great practices, lost one guy to a sprained ankle, but last night we had a great practice. It’s expected that you come in and have a good game and these guys know what success takes.”

Mid-Prairie controlled the pace early on, jumping out to as much as a 10 point lead in the first. A late four point spurt from Wilton’s Aidan Walker gave the Beavers some momentum heading into the second down 15-9.

The second quarter was much like the first. For the first half of the quarter, Mid-Prairie showed signs of pulling away. The Golden Hawks used a 10-5 run to build an 11 point lead, 25-14, their largest of the game thus far.

Wilton once again answered back late in the quarter, with a 7-2 run, bringing the game to back within six. Mid-Prairie held a 27-21 lead at the break.

Coming out of the locker room, the Golden Hawks had everything clicking.

Mid-Prairie dominated the third quarter, using an 22-8 run to build up its largest lead of the game, 20 points. At the end of the quarter, Wilton got a quick four points before Mid-Prairie’s Alex Bean hit a three at the buzzer to put the Golden Hawks back up by 19 heading into the fourth.

The Golden Hawks won the third 25-12, with Bean scoring nine of his 20 and Carter Harmsen scoring seven of his 19.

“You know, Carter always gonna be a guy that can get you a bucket, he’s physical and he was playing through a lot of contact tonight,” Lambert said. “Alex is a great shooter, but the reasons he’s evolved so much is he can go in the paint and finish through contact.”

Mid-Prairie had all the momentum, and Wilton had to answer back to stay in the game. They did.

To begin the fourth, the Beavers went on a 13-0 run to bring themselves to back within six, 52-46. The Golden Hawks grabbed a quick five points to put themselves back up by 11, but the Beavers wouldn’t go away as they cut the lead to six once more.

“It was definitely our offense leading to them getting easy looks,” Lambert said. “We were getting a little rushed, turning the ball over, taking bad shots leading to long rebounds. They got a lot of long run outs which gave them easy looks on the offensive end.”

Despite the Wilton comeback, Mid-Prairie was able to hit free throws down the stretch to cap the win.

Alex Bean led the Golden Hawks with 20 points and five rebounds. Carter Harmsen and Will Cavanagh both finished with double-doubles. Harmsen finished with 19 points while grabbing 13 rebounds. Cavanagh scored 11 points and pulled down 10 boards.

Jackson Pennington chipped in 10 and Camron Pickard added two.

Mid-Prairie, now 8-0 on the season, will be back on the court Friday in a matchup with West Branch, 4-4, at home.

Comments: hunter.moeller@southeastiowaunion.com