IOWA CITY

Urgent basketball. That was the theme from the Thursday, Jan. 11 showdown between the visiting Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks and Regina Regals.

The boys game kicked things off at 5 p.m. because of an impending snowstorm. Regina proved to be the hotter contestant, winning 69-52.

Regina is on a 10-game winning streak after starting 0-2. The Regals sit alone atop the River Valley South division. Mid-Prairie fell to 4-5 after this game and remains at fourth place.

The Hawks were in the middle of a basketball hiatus. This game was their first since Dec. 21 of 2023, three full weeks without action.

What hurt the Hawks was their freezing cold start. By the end of quarter one, the Regals held a 26-7 lead and showed no signs of slowing.

The Hawks neutralized the Regals in frame two, matching their 12 points.

Coming from halftime, the Hawks looked sharp, outscoring the Regals 16-12, once trailing by just seven. The Regals took back control in the fourth, outscoring the Hawks 19-17.

Mid-Prairie Head Coach Daren Lambert thought the game would’ve had a different outcome if the Hawks started stronger.

“If we had the start like we did in the third quarter, we’re having a different feeling in that locker room [at halftime],” Lambert said. “But we fought back. This team is going to keep evolving.”

Bryce Henry led the Hawks with 23 points, not missing a beat in his impressive sophomore breakout season.

“Offensively, [Bryce] can hit tough shots, we knew that he was going to bring that to us,” Lambert said. “When we were in a slump, [Bryce] had some tough shots that kind of kicked us into gear and got us some points.”

“[Bryce has] gotten better in other aspects of the game. We’re just pleased with how he’s improving; you can see that confidence in him too. We are excited to have him as a part of our weaponry, especially offensively,” Lambert added.

Henry’s high-flying night gave the Hawks their first 100-point scorer of the year as Bryce now sits at 103 points with a slew of games yet to be played.

Senior Dylan Henry was second in team scoring with 15. Junior Brady Weber was third with eight.

For the Regals, it was senior Michael Martin who was the difference. Martin had 30 points, by far the most from either squad.

The Hawks will return to the drawing board for upcoming games against West Liberty (Jan. 18), Bellevue (Jan. 20) and Mt. Pleasant (Jan. 22).

“We got to start better [and] a little bit faster. If we’re not going to hit shots, we got to defend well,” Lambert said.

“[They] can catch fire at any point and we did at certain times, but if we’re trading points, you’re not going to cut down lanes and so better starts are something you got to do. That’s what we’re going to do, find a way to change things up and get us started the correct way.”

Mid-Prairie Girls Basketball

This stretch of the season was a heavy one for the Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks. The Hawks lost 70-46 to the Regina Regals, the number four ranked team. This marks Mid-Prairie’s third straight loss, all to ranked teams (Solon on Dec. 21 and Maquoketa on Jan. 6).

The win gave the Regals an 11-2 record and sole possession of first place in the River Valley South division. Mid-Prairie fell to 6-5, holding their position of third in the division.

The Hawks kept it close in the first quarter and fought throughout the second as well, heading into halftime down 36-21. The Hawks defense kept them in the game.

“I thought defensively our effort tonight was really good, we were able to get our hands in the passing lanes and get some deflections and get some steals,”

Mid-Prairie Head Coach Daniel Hershberger said. “We’d like to turn turnovers into a few more transition points. But I thought if our effort level can continue to be the way it was tonight, we’re going to continue to get better at being in the right spot and being able to get more turnovers.”

The Regals flew away with the second half, outscoring the Hawks 34-25 to reach a final verdict.

The junior-senior pair of Morgan Miller and Alli Clark led the Regals with 38 combined points.

And for the Hawks, junior Brylee Gearhart led the team with 11 points. Sophomore Jovi Evans was second with eight and junior Callie Huber was third with seven. Huber had a team-leading nine rebounds and Gearhart was behind with six. Each player could be seen fighting for position under the net all night.

“We knew we were going to have an advantage in the post with our height. I thought Brylee and Callie did a good job of being strong and finishing around the basket,” Hershberger said.

Defensively, Regina took senior Nora Pennington out of this game. It was a key factor in their big win.

“I thought Regina did a good job of trying to limit Nora and not letting her do what she wanted to do out there,” Hershberger said. “On nights like that, we got to have other people step up and hit some threes and some outside shots so they can’t focus quite as much on [Nora] if they know the rest of our team is scoring.”

Regina holds a 30-7 all-time record versus the Golden Hawks. They’re a tough team to topple. But playing in a hostile environment is an overall positive experience for the young Hawk squad.

“It’s good experience to play a highly ranked team on their home court and compete in that atmosphere,” Hershberger said. “I think anytime you can be in that situation, it’s going to be a good learning experience for our young players. Hopefully we can continue to improve after tonight. We’re [becoming] more comfortable on the court.”

The Hawks will face West Liberty at home on Thursday, Jan. 18. Following that game, they’ll travel to Mount Pleasant on Monday, Jan. 22.