Mid-Prairie take down Washington behind 25-point third quarter

Mid-Prairie’s excellent start to the third quarter propelled it to a win over Washington on Monday. The Golden Hawks earned a trophy for their 68-57 triumph over the Demons in a Washington County battle.

“Last year we didn’t get it, so it felt great this year,” junior Brooks Weber said. The Golden Hawks avenged an 18-point defeat to the Demons last season.

The difference in this year’s matchup was a 15-2 run by Mid-Prairie in the first 4:30 of the third quarter after it trailed 29-27 at halftime. The Golden Hawks nearly matched their first half output with 25 points in the third.

“We talked about toughness,” Golden Hawks coach Daren Lambert said of the team’s halftime adjustments. “It was written on the board in the pregame. I thought we lacked some toughness in the paint at the rim offensively and missed a lot of shots, which left a lot of points on the board. I really challenged them offensively to be tougher around the rim and then get stops defensively.”

Those adjustments paid off as Mid-Prairie’s defense slowed Washington down and enabled the Golden Hawks to go on their run. When Washington cut it back down to a four-point game with under 30 seconds left in the third, Mid-Prairie answered though an and-1 by Kale Miller, who scored his only three points of the game on that possession.

Brooks Weber led the Golden Hawks with 20 points. The junior drilled four of the team’s nine made 3-point attempts and added six assists, six rebounds and a pair of steals.

“The team honestly just did a great job tonight,” Weber said. “It wasn’t one individual player. Hudson (Ehrenfelt) had a big night tonight, too, and we weren’t really shooting well in the first half. So we got to the lane, got some kickouts, got some wide open shots. So it was just a great effort by the team tonight and it helped me get some open looks.”

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Ehrenfelt matched Weber with six rebounds and scored 15 points on 7 of 9 shooting. He also dished out four assists, grabbed two steals and had Mid-Prairie’s lone block on the night.

Carson Humphrey and Bryce Henry scored 11 each, Humphery doing so on just 5 of 9 from the field. Clayton Davidson knocked down two 3s to chip in six points off the bench.

Mid-Prairie’s defense prevented Washington from inflicting more damage in the first quarter, which the Demons won 15-6. The Golden Hawks were willing to do the dirty work to slow down the Demons aggressive approach to attacking the rim.

“They essentially put somebody in the middle and they were pretty much daring us to shoot; beat them from the outside,” Washington coach Colin Stark said. “I thought we still shot the ball well, but it clogged the middle up a little bit more and I think that’s ultimately why those finishes weren’t quite there.”

Mid-Prairie’s commitment to stopping paint points sacrificed open looks from 3-point range for Washington. Nic Stone took full advantage, knocking down seven 3s on the way to 21 points.

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Drew Conrad found driving lanes difficult at times, but still scored 13 points for Washington and found some success from deep with two 3s. Rajan Roth also knocked down a shot from outside and tallied nine points.

After being held scoreless for the first three quarters, Kael Williams scored five straight points to make it a six-point game with 5:34 left. It was ultimately not enough as Mid-Prairie held Washington to just 12 points in the fourth, the Demons lowest-scoring quarter of the night.

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After its road victory over Washington, Mid-Prairie (13-5, 9-3 River Valley South) made it four wins in a row Tuesday with a 77-36 beat down of Tipton. The Golden Hawks next face Class 2A’s No. 3 ranked side Regina Catholic on Friday.

Washington (10-7, 4-4 Southeast) will be back at home Friday night for its penultimate game in SEC play. The Demons will face Ft. Madison, which they beat 86-65 on Jan. 2.