Golden Hawks even score with Bears

The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawks boys’ basketball team defeated the West Branch Bears 53-46 Thursday, January 21, at home, avenging a January 15 loss to the Bears at West Branch.
Mid-Prairie held a slim 11-9 lead going into the second quarter, but the Bears were hot, outscoring Mid-Prairie 15-6 for a 24-17 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, the Golden Hawks turned the tables, scoring 17 points to the Bears’ four points, and taking a 34-28 lead into the last quarter.
Mid-Prairie narrowly won the fourth quarter, 19-18, and the Bears could not come back for a win.
Tanner Miller and Michael Aldeman scored in double figures for the Golden Hawks with 20 and 14 points, respectively. Miller led in rebounds with eight. Dylan Hochstetler had eight points and seven rebounds.
Mid-Prairie coach Don Showalter said, “We played very well in the second half and especially the third quarter where we held West Branch to only four points.  After a good first quarter and a very poor second quarter, I have to give our players alot of credit for putting it together the second half both from the mental and the physical standpoint. 
“Dylan Hochstetler played his second outstanding game in a row with six blocks and some tough defensive stops in the paint. 
“Players that deserve mention are Christian Swartzentruber and Ryan Harris.  Neither get a lot of playing time, but they work extremely hard and have great attitudes in practice which makes everyone better.  Both will be good players in the future as they are juniors. 
“Tanner Miller continues to get shots using his strength inside the paint.  I thought Mark and Michael Aldeman also gave us a consistent four quarters of play with assists and some good shots. 
“Quinn Hollan did not score as much as he sometimes does, but his defense is always consistent.
“I really like the effort our bench players continue to give the team – Aaron Smit, Robby Mostek, Michael Aldeman, Jordan Yotty and Oliver Hassman always seem to give us good minutes on the floor.”
M-P 11 6 17 19 – 53
WB 9 15 4 18 – 46 
Mid-Prairie stats: Mark Aldeman 2 0-1 4, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 4 assists; Michael Aldeman 4 4-4 14, 2 3-pointers, 1 rebound, 2 steals, 3 assists; Kaleb Duwa 0 1-2 1, 4 rebounds, 1 steal; Dylan Hochstetler 4 0-2 8, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 assists; Quinn Hollan 1 0-0 2, 3 rebounds, 2 assists; Tanner Miller 9 2-4 20, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists; Robby Mostek 1 0-0 2, 2 rebounds, 1 assist; Aaron Smit 1 0-1 2, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist.