WEST BRANCH
The signs of a basketball brawl were evident last Friday in West Branch.
Mid-Prairie senior Brylee Gearhart went up high for a rebound late in the game and was surrounded by …
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WEST BRANCH
The signs of a basketball brawl were evident last Friday in West Branch.
Mid-Prairie senior Brylee Gearhart went up high for a rebound late in the game and was surrounded by three West Branch players, arms in her face. A few elbow swings later and a whistle, and the Golden Hawks still had the ball and Gearhart had a warning from a referee.
Brooklyn Schneider, a Mid-Prairie guard, lunged after a ball near midcourt, resulting in ankle injuries to both Schneider and a West Branch player.
Golden Hawks senior forward Callie Huber emerged from the battle, a 55-23 Mid-Prairie victory, with a game-high 14 points and a bit of a smile.
“It was pretty physical,” she said. “They definitely let us play.”
The Golden Hawks, winning their fourth consecutive game to begin the season, dominated from the start. They gave up just eight points in the first half to grab a 17-point lead. A 15-5 run in the third quarter was capped off by a Gearhart basket with 1 second left in the quarter.
Head coach Danny Hershberger called the effort the best of the season.
“We did a great job defensively,” Hershberger said.
The Golden Hawks shut down West Branch’s offense so effectively that the Bears missed 30-of-36 shots and turned the ball over 34 times.
Izzy Kite, a sophomore guard, and Jeorgia Evans, a freshman, each had five steals, and Katelyn Harland, a junior, had four steals.
Huber picked off 8 rebounds and a game-high 3 blocks, and Myli Hershberger had 7 rebounds.
The real fun came away from the basket, where Huber fought off double teams and Gearhart, at times, fought off three opponents. And then, there were the open court dives for loose balls.
Schneider, a sophomore starter who scored 6 points and had 2 steals, limped out of the locker room postgame with a hurt ankle.
Kite added 8 points for the Golden Hawks and Tessa Bombei scored 7.
Addi Schultes scored a team-high 10 points for West Branch (1-5) and Lexi Skay had a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Golden Hawks (4-0) finish off their pre-holiday schedule Friday at Durant.
GAME STATS
MID-PRAIRIE 55, WEST BRANCH 23
Mid-Prairie 12 13 15 15 -- 55
West Branch 6 2 5 10 -- 23
Mid-Prairie scoring: Callie Huber 14, Izzy Kite 8, Tessa Bombei 7, Brooklyn Schneider 6, Brylee Gearhart 6, Katelyn Harland 5, Morgyn Bender 3, Jeorgia Evans 3, Myli Hershberger 3.
West Branch scoring: Addi Schultes 10, Ava Burnett 5, Lexi Skay 3, Kennedy Simpson 2, Sulli Bucknell 2, Alyssa Pierce 1.
Mid-Prairie leading rebounders: Huber 8, Hershberger 7, Bombei 5, Harland 5.
West Branch leading rebounders: Skay 11, Burnett 6.