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Mid-Prairie exacts revenge against Alburnett
Golden Hawks hold Pirates to seven second-quarter points, avenge early-season loss
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WELLMAN — Mid-Prairie boys basketball avenged a Jan. 6 loss to Alburnett in spectacular fashion. The Golden Hawks turned an 11-point defeat in the first matchup into a 74-54 drubbing Tuesday night.
Mid-Prairie took full control early in the second quarter after being down 18-17 though the first eight minutes. The Golden Hawks switched out of their full court press, and their half court defense improved to force turnovers and create easy offense in transition.
“The biggest thing was getting defensive stops and not allowing them to get offensive rebounds, which is what hurt us the first game and then that first four minutes of the first quarter really got us,” Mid-Prairie coach Daren Lambert said. “So (we) really cleaned that up and kind of built that lead there.”
The Golden Hawks won the second period 20-7 and didn’t look back. Mid-Prairie scored 20 in the third and another 17 in the fourth, besting Alburnett in both stanzas.
Bryce Henry finished 21 points to lead the Golden Hawks. He scored the first four points of the second quarter to help Mid-Prairie pull away and knocked down three 3-pointers in the third.
“I didn't like my performance in the first half and that kind of stuff ticks me off,” Henry said. “I just went out there (in the second half) and had a lot of confidence.”
Alburnett trimmed the deficit to 12 with 90 seconds left in the third, but a bucket by Kale Miller and a 3-pointer by Tristan Koller on the Golden Hawks next two possessions pushed their lead back to 17 entering the fourth.
Hudson Ehrenfelt joined Henry in double figures with 12 points. Koller finished with 11 points, including eight in the first half.
Junior Brooks Weber also scored 11 on the night. Kale Miller finished with nine points and Clayton Davidson scored six.
“We’ve done a great job of sharing the basketball and our shot selection has been a lot better over the last few weeks, and just playing as a team,” Lambert said of Mid-Prairie’s offensive success. “I think that's the biggest thing is not worrying about individual stats. It's what is best for us in this possession and in this moment.”
Mid-Prairie (15-5, 10-3 River Valley South) has ripped off six straight wins since a 49-42 loss to Mt. Pleasant. Having wapped up second place in the conference, the Golden Hawks will finish the regular season against Class 2A No. 3 Regina Catholic on Friday.
“Lately we've been just playing really hard,” Henry said. “The effort has been through the roof, and we know that and it's been working. So we're just gonna keep doing that.”
The Golden Hawks will have six days off before their first playoff game after receiving a bye as the No. 2 seed in the 2A District 10 tournament. Mid-Prairie will face the winner between No. 3 seed Mediapolis and No. 6 seed Louisa-Muscatine on Feb. 19.
