WELLMAN

Jovi Evans’ emergence arrived swiftly and with perfect timing.

She hit a basket in a Jan. 18 River Valley South showdown with West Liberty, then hit another seconds later to finish an 11-0 run by the Golden Hawks.

By the time the night was done, Evans scored a career-high 20 points and had a game-high 4 steals in Mid-Prairie’s 49-42 victory over the Comets, completing a season sweep that hadn’t happened since 2018.

“She did a great job of being aggressive and going to the basket and making some tough baskets close to the hoop and getting to the free throw line and knocking down free throws when she had the opportunity,” Mid-Prairie head coach Danny Hershberger said.

The career game followed a stretch in which Evans, a starting sophomore guard and one of the team’s captains, was out for a part of December with a knee injury. She could only watch as the Golden Hawks lost to top-ranked Solon by 43 points.

Thursday’s game showcased her return, although it was her third game back. Friday, she followed it up with a 16-point game in a win over West Branch.

“It just all started clicking at practice the past couple days,” Evans said.

The win over West Liberty broke a three-game losing streak for the Golden Hawks. Evans’ aggressive moves on the court seemed to suggest, enough already.

“I’m definitely determined and I really take on this captain role and being the leader and making sure everybody is doing their part and I’m also doing my part to the best of my ability,” she said.

Said Hershberger: “We’re going to need that aggressive play and that fire she brings to our team.”

The Golden Hawks’ 11-point run in the second quarter opened up a game against a rival that had defeated Mid-Prairie eight consecutive times until the Golden Hawks snuck in a two-point win in 2022.

“I thought we did a lot better job defensively, we were able to get a couple fast-break chances off that,” Hershberger said. “We did a good job moving the ball on offense.”

The Comets (2-10), who have won 70 games in the last four seasons, pulled to within seven points late in the game when a fast-break pass from Nora Pennington to Evans for a basket put Mid-Prairie back up by nine.

Junior forward Callie Huber added 10 points for Mid-Prairie and Katelyn Harland had a team-high 8 rebounds.

Maelyn Wainwright led West Liberty with 12 points.

Mid-Prairie 62

West Branch 53

Jovi Evans scored a game-high 16 points and Nora Pennington added 15, leading Mid-Prairie to a 62-53 win over West Branch last Friday.

The Golden Hawks (8-5) scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to outgun the Bears (3-12).

Mid-Prairie doubled the rebounding of West Branch with sophomore guard Katelyn Harland leading the boards battle with 8 rebounds and junior forward Callie Huber pulling down 6 rebounds.

Evans added 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

Pennington, who ranks second in the River Valley South in steals, had a game-high 6 steals.

Madelyn Stout led West Branch with 15 points.

Mid-Prairie’s game against Mount Pleasant on Monday was cancelled.

The Golden Hawks play at Washington on Monday.

GAME STATS

MID-PRAIRIE 49, WEST LIBERTY 42

West Liberty   12    8    11   11  --  42

Mid-Prairie     14   14   10   11  --  49

West Liberty scoring: Maelyn Wainwright 12, Pearson Hall 7, Mallory Wulf 7, Sophie Buysse 7, Sully Hall 6, Paige Werling 3.

Mid-Prairie scoring: Jovi Evans 20, Callie Huber 10, Katelyn Harland 6, Brooklyn Schneider 6, Brylee Gearhart 4, Olivia Swartzendruber 2, Nora Pennington 1.

West Liberty rebounding leaders: Pearson Hall 10, Wainwright 6.

Mid-Prairie rebounding leaders: Harland 8, Schneider 4, Pennington 4.

MID-PRAIRIE 62, WEST BRANCH 53

West Branch   10    17    12   14  --  53

Mid-Prairie     17   12   14   19  --  62

West Branch scoring: Madelyn Stout 15, Kennedy Simpson 15, Kylie Pickett 11, Kya Montgomery 6, Alyse Klinkkammer 2, Addi Schultes 2, Lexi Skay 2.

Mid-Prairie scoring: Jovi Evans 16, Nora Pennington 15, Callie Huber 8, Brylee Gearhart 6, Brooklyn Schneider 5, Olivia Swartzendruber 4, Katelyn Harland 3, Izzy Kite 3, Harper Pacha 2.

West Branch rebounding leaders: Schultes 5, Skay 4.

Mid-Prairie rebounding leaders: Harland 8, Huber 6, Gearhart 6.