Clutch Golden Hawks best Rebels in overtime thriller

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 12/22/21

If Northeast was expecting that its fourth-quarter momentum would carry into the extra period, those hopes were quickly shattered after the overtime tip. 

The Rebels scored the final nine …

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Clutch Golden Hawks best Rebels in overtime thriller

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If Northeast was expecting that its fourth-quarter momentum would carry into the extra period, those hopes were quickly shattered after the overtime tip. 

The Rebels scored the final nine points of regulation to extend the game, but Mid-Prairie scored the first five points of overtime before Northeast (6-3) could reach the frontcourt. 

Mid-Prairie senior Will Cavanagh hit a pair of 3-pointers in overtime as the Golden Hawks (6-0) stayed perfect with a 60-55 win in Goose Lake on Tuesday. 

“We knew it was going to be a dogfight, so we had to keep pushing and not fold under pressure,” Cavanagh said. “A couple times last year, in the West Branch games, we’d get a little bit of a lead, they’d come back and we would collapse. I think this shows that we’ve gotten stronger as a team.”

Cavanagh had scored just two points when Mid-Prairie trailed 29-26 late in the third quarter. He hadn’t made a 3-pointer in almost three weeks and was 1-of-15 for the season. 

He got a clean look with the quarter winding down and buried it. Mid-Prairie never trailed again. Cavanagh found his rhythm and canned two more in the fourth quarter during a 13-4 Mid-Prairie run. 

Cavanagh’s coaches were encouraging him to “keep shooting, keep shooting and get my confidence up,” he said. “And once I hit the one, they kept getting me the ball, and I was able to make it. So, it felt good.”

He scored 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and overtime and had three of the Golden Hawks’ six steals. He shot 5-of-9 from the 3-point line. 

Neither team led by more than three points until the fourth quarter. Carter Harmsen scored 18 of Mid-Prairie’s first 26 points and finished with a game-high 28. Each of his first seven field goals either tied the game or gave Mid-Prairie the lead. 

Mid-Prairie coach Daren Lambert wasn’t surprised to see a slower offensive start for the Golden Hawks. 

“It's a tough place to play, you're on the bus for two hours,” he said. “The main focus last night in practice and tonight in the pregame was defense, defense, defense. 

“If you can defend, you can always stay in the game, and I thought we defended her extremely well tonight. Offensively, it took us a little bit of time, but towards the end we started to hit shots at the right time.”

An offensive rebound gave Mid-Prairie a second chance with the game tied 31-31 and Alex Bean took advantage of the opportunity by cashing in from deep. Justice Jones caught the ball on the block and found Harmsen cutting to the basket to put Mid-Prairie up 38-31. 

Harmsen and Ethan Kos each had three offensive rebounds, which were critical in a close game. Harmsen finished with seven total rebounds, while Kos had six.

Bean finished with five assists and Jack Pennington had seven. Pennington hit a pull up jumper to tie the game 20-20 at the half and hit a 3-pointer in overtime to increase the lead to 55-50. 

Senior Cade Hughes hit the game-tying 3-pointer in regulation for the Rebels and hit two more in overtime. Freshman Gavin Kramer hit one to pull Northeast within two points with about a minute left, but the Rebels couldn’t keep Harmsen out of the paint. He muscled up a shot to restore a two-score lead at 57-53 and then hit a pair of free throws to ice the game. 

Mid-Prairie travels to Kansas City over the winter break to face coach Daren Lambert’s former team, Raytown South, on Thursday December 23 in the Twelve Courts of Christmas at Hy-Vee Arena.