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Strong defense pushes Mid-Prairie past Pella Christian
Golden Hawks force 33 turnovers, reach 3A-3 title game
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WELLMAN — The Evans sisters led the press that ended Pella Christian’s season.
Golden Hawks senior Jovi and sophomore Jeorgia Evans combined for 12 steals, operating within a relentless Mid-Prairie defense. The Golden Hawks imposed their athleticism in a grind-it-out 46-35 win over the Eagles on Wednesday in the Class 3A Region 3 semifinals.
Speed has come to define Mid-Prairie this season. The Evans siblings exemplified that on the defensive end.
“I feel like as a player that's kind of how I've been defined as (having) more of a defense (impact) just because I am so fast,” Jeorgia said. “And it's fun just to do it with (Jovi) on her senior year.”
Jovi, who played in her final home game as a Golden Hawk, led Mid-Prairie on a low-scoring night with 12 points. But her strongest impact came on the other side of the ball where she racked up her six steals, a tally Jeorgia matched as the two led the way at the front of the Golden Hawks diamond press setup.
“When me and Jeorgia are up there together and Morgyn (Bender) getting all the steals at half court, it's so much fun,” Jovi said. “It's way more fun than making the baskets. Me and Jeorgia don't always finish it at the rim, but it's fun to get the steals and then we can get the rebound and hopefully recycle it.”
The siblings also got some revenge on the basketball court over Pella Christian’s Rachel Kacmarynski, who won the day on the track last May. Kacmarynski is the two-time reigning 2A 100-meter state champion and beat both Evans sisters in the 2025 finals — Jeorgia finished runner up in the race.
Kacmarynski showed off her basketball skills with 16 points Wednesday. But her output wasn’t enough against the Golden Hawks collection of pace and strong defense.
Jeorgia and Jovi were far from the only defensive contributors. Mid-Prairie forced 33 Pella Christian turnovers. Six players recorded at least one steal.
Pella Christian kept itself in the game with solid defense of its own and took one-point leads into the second and third quarters. But when crunch time arrived, the Eagles ran out of gas on offense.
“We probably respected No. 35 (Kacmarynski) a little too much at the beginning,” Hobbs said. “We're like, OK, we're not gonna do our normal denial and really trap hard. At halftime I'm like, nope, get it. Do our normal trap... pressure, deny. So we made that adjustment at halftime.”
Mid-Prairie turned the screws after it called timeout down 29-27. Out of the break, the Golden Hawks finished the third quarter on an 9-2 run and forced five turnovers in that span. Mid-Prairie scored the first five points of the fourth and held the Eagles scoreless for the first 4:40 of the last stanza.
“We just had to keep shooting,” Hobbs said... “Our little mantra is shooters got to shoot, and I thought we did a better job of being patient because it is hard when we're press, press, press.”
Mid-Prairie shot just 32.1% from the field and made just one more 3-pointer to finish the night 2 of 17 from deep. The Golden Hawks did go 10 of 14 from the free throw line, compared to 4 of 7 for the Eagles. Mid-Prairie also had much more offensive balance than Pella Christian, which got 32 of its 35 points from Kacmarynski and senior Addie Van Arendonk.
Jovi Evans paired 11 rebounds to go with her points and steals. Tessa Bombei was also in double figures with 10 points, along with four boards, one assist and four steals. Bender finished with eight points, four rebounds, two assists and five steals.
Brooklyn Schneider ended the game with six points, four rebounds and an assist, while Jeorgia Evans paired five points with her six steals. Katelyn Harland had three points, four rebounds, one steal and a block, while Myli Hershberger had two points, two rebounds and an assist.
The win sends Mid-Prairie to the 3A-3 regional championship game. The Golden Hawks will face off against No. 1 seed Mount Vernon, which beat Dike-New Hartford 73-20 in the semifinal round.
Mount Vernon beat Mid-Prairie 59-46 during a regular season matchup Dec. 8. After a relentless defensive outing Wednesday, Mid-Prairie will hope to have success with a similar strategy in a rematch against the defending 3A state champions.
“The first game was really good. We held with them pretty long,” Jeorgia Evans said. “I feel like this time we're just going to press a little longer and that should help us.”
Tipoff for the 3A Region 3 final is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Mount Vernon High School. The winner will join seven other 3A sides at the state tournament March 2-7 at Casey’s Center in Des Moines.
