Golden Hawks survive missed free throws, turnovers

WELLMAN - Any coach will repeatedly say it is important to make free throws and it is important to take care of the ball.

Turnovers and missed free throws by Mid-Prairie allowed Tipton to rally from a 20-point disadvantage Tuesday and make a game of the River Valley Conference matchup, but the Golden Hawks prevailed to claim a 54-47 victory.

'We were lucky we had a big enough lead so that it didn't matter,” Mid-Prairie head coach Stephen Bender said. 'They started making shots when we started turning it over. And we weren't making our free throws.”

Maybe the Golden Hawks don't like to play with a lead or just a large lead. They opened the game on a 9-0 run on baskets by Maddie Nonnenmann and Shae Becker, but led by just a single point, 11-10, at the end of the first quarter.

The lead was at 18-14 when Kessa Jones, Colby Rourke and Caitlyn Riggan all poured in points to make it a 27-17 halftime edge.

'We did a good job of taking care of the basketball in the second quarter and our defensive pressure was up,” Bender said.

Myah Lugar buried two 3-pointers to start the second half and increased the score to 33-17. She finished with 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks.

A 7-0 run in the middle of the quarter was highlighted by Ella Cardena's conventional 3-point play and a Becker basket resulted in a score of 40-20. The quarter ended with a 41-23 advantage still showing on the scoreboard.

The first six Mid-Prairie points of the final period were by Nonnenmann, four on buckets on assists from Becker and two at the foul line.

Becker and Nonnenmann executed a drive-and-kick play that was successful, briefly.

'We started turning it over on that play,” Bender said. 'We weren't able to keep getting into the lane. At first, they weren't helping when we would drive, then they started doing a good job on the drive, which led us into making bad decisions.”

Nonnenmann matched her career high with 16 points. She scored 16 in the first game of the year, which was the first game of her high school career. The change in the level of play from middle school has impressed the freshman.

'It has been really different because of the intensity. It is way up,” Nonnenmann said. 'It is a whole different game.”

This became a different game when the Tigers went on a 9-1 run that got the score to 48-38 that was augmented by a 4-point play.

'They had a huge three that I think helped them a lot where they called a foul and we didn't even touch her,” Bender said.

After Kessa Jones went 2 of 4 on free throws for Mid-Prairie, Tipton canned another trey and it was 49-43 with 2:09 left.

'I was really worried,” Nonnenmann said. 'We got loose. I think we got too comfortable towards the end and they started making their shots. I thought we played decent, but we could've been more focused. We got a little lazy towards the end, I think, but we will learn from it.”

With 1:26 left, Lugar made the first MP field goal since early in the quarter. In the last quarter, Nonnennmann had made two foul shots early, then Mid-Prairie went 3 for 11 at the foul line.

'In the second half, I thought we did well in all areas until the last four minutes,” Bender said. 'We started turning it over and missing free throws. They had nothing to lose and a lot of times when that happens, they start making some shots. I'm glad that we played well enough early to be able to hold on and get the win. It came down to taking care of the basketball. We started making some bad decisions.”

Those decisions devolved into turnovers.

There was a bright spot with Nonnenmann's production. She was 7 of 11 on field goals with a block and four rebounds.

'Maddie played well,” Bender said. 'The last few games she hasn't played the way she wanted to and she played a much better game tonight. She played more confident. She was finishing. She really stepped up and had a great game for us. That was that we needed her to play. When she plays like that, it makes us a lot better.”

Becker had 11 points and eight assists. Jones had five steals, five points and four rebounds.

Mid-Prairie is 10-5 overall, 9-5 RVC and plays at Camanche Friday.

Tipton is 6-7, 4-7.