Tornow’s free throws cap Mid-Prairie comeback over Demons

WELLMAN - There may have been subzero temperatures outside this week, but it was a heated atmosphere inside Tim Grady Gymnasium Thursday during a high school basketball game.

After Mid-Prairie led Washington 2-0, it never led again until taking a 56-55 lead with 4 minutes, 42 seconds left. The Demons got four straight points from Trashaun Willis, but a Brad Tornow runner capped a 5-0 Mid-Prairie run for a 61-59 lead. Luke Turner scored a bucket for his 20 and 21st points on the night to tie the game at 61 with 35 seconds left.

Tornow was fouled with 3.5 second left and sank both free throws. A last-second Washington shot missed and the Golden Hawks had a 63-61 nonconference victory.

'That was a blast!” Tornow said. 'I don't think I have ever been so happy in my life.”

Things were not so happy for the home team throughout most of the game. The score was tied twice in the first quarter, but it was a 19-14 Demons edge staring the second period and it was 36-29 Washington at halftime. It was 43-32 when Ethan Hunt got his fourth foul with 5:06 left in the third quarter. Tornow converted the conventional three-point play, but four consecutive free throws from Turner gave Washington its biggest lead at 47-35.

An 8-0 Hawk run ended when Mid-Prairie's Tom Butters was called for a technical and by the end of the stanza, it was 51-48 Washington with a lot of drama yet to unfold.

'It was heated the whole game,” Butters said. 'They wanted it bad, probably more than us in the first half. The game got physical. We had to adapt to that and overcome it because it is just part of the game. After I got that technical, we just stepped back and asked ourselves, ‘Do we want a fight here or do we want to win?'”

'We needed to keep our cool because we were letting things get out of hand, so we needed to come together and play as a team,” Tornow said.

The drama increased when a battle for a loose ball resulted in Hunt being called for his fifth foul. Hunt stood by the sidelines waiting to be subbed for, but Butters was given his free throw opportunity and he missed. A Washington rebound sent the ball upcourt to Hunt, who was fouled attempting a shot. A lengthy debate then ensued about what had happened before the referees figured it out and Kolten Hinrichsen came in to shoot Hunt's free throws. He missed them but a Turner rebound and assist to Cade Hennigan made it 53-50. A 6-2 run capped by two free throws from Dominick Pickard gave the Hawks that lead of 56-55.

Tornow scored 16 of his 18 points after halftime.

'Coaches have always told me to be more aggresive,” Tornow said. 'The halftime speech got me going.”

Despite the lack of practice time the teams have had, both squads certainly played an entertaining game.

'It got to a point where the guys realized just how tough they had to play on defense,” MP coach Daren Lambert said. 'The message now is we don't need to be down double digits if we just play defense like we did.”

Cale Robertson finished with 13 points and Butters had 14.

'The seniors at these schools have been going at it since they were in second grade, they are 15 miles away, they play AAU tournaments, so they know each other,” Lambert said. 'We knew it was going to be a rivalry game that was going to be physical, emotional and tough. We are just pleased it turned out in our favor.”

Mid-Prairie ups its record to 9-9 and hosts River Valley Conference foe West Branch tonight.

Washington's Trevor Quigley had and Hunt had nine points each and Hinrichsen finished with eight.

'In the beginning, we were attacking and pushing the pace, but from the middle of the third quarter when emotions started getting high, we started settling for shots,” WHS coach Collin Stark said. 'I though our guys started getting tired. Credit to them, they used their strengths to attack us. When emotions get high, you have to be fundamentally sound. We need to learn from this.”

Washington falls to 6-8 with a home game aginst Southeast Conference rival Ft. Madison tonight.