Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – This wasn’t a survive and advance situation for Solon.

It was a non-conference game to kick off the 2026 portion of the schedule following the holiday break not a postseason game with the season at stake.

Instead of survive and advance it was more survive and learn for the Spartans.

Class 4A No. 10 had to survive plenty to escape with a 67-59 win over Class 3A No. 12 Mid-Prairie (5-2) on Saturday in the return to action for both teams in Solon.

Solon saw a 26-point second-half lead shrink to four but outscored Mid-Prairie 9-5 over the final 3 minutes to improve to 5-2 on the season.

“We practice a lot of situations so we are kind of used to having scramble but it was just kind of hope and pray to be honest,” Solon senior Delainey Durr said. “It was definitely kind of crazy.”

Solon led 42-19 at the half and was in cruise control mode up 51-25 with under four minutes to play in the third quarter.

Mid-Prairie fought back and Solon was forced to fight its way to survival.

Solon didn’t score for the final 5:18 of the third quarter, committed 15 of its 28 turnovers during the third quarter as the Golden Hawks closed the quarter on a 18-0 run.

“Sometimes you have to win ugly and that’s a good team so it’s not like they were going to go away,” Solon coach Jamie Smith said. “I don’t think we freaked out the last three minutes, the ball got moved, we played better defense and did a lot of good things.”

Mid-Prairie shot 19 free throws in the third quarter, making seven during its 18-0 run over the final 2:59 of the quarter.

The Golden Hawks cut the lead to 54-50 with 5:47 remaining and trailed 58-54 with under three minutes to play but Solon steadied the ship late.

Junior Laney Johnson hit a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers, including one with 2:49 remaining that gave the Spartans a 61-54 lead.

Solon went 6-of-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter and was 14-of-17 from the line in the game.

“Laney hit some bigshots and we made free throws,” Smith said. “We were 14-of-17 at the line and you need to have that kind of stuff at the end of a game like that.”

Solon survived despite starters Tenley Levin and Jerzey Haluska each fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Haluska had 10 points and Levin had 11 points and 11 rebounds despite both players missing significant time with foul trouble throughout the game.

“That’s hard to finish a game like that,” Smith said. “They were hitting shots, we were turning it over, we were fouling. It could have easily gone the other way and we found a way.”

Durr led Solon with 16 points while Johnson and Laeni Hinkle each had 11 points.

Morgyn Bender had 16 of her game-high 19 points in the second-half for Mid-Prairie while Tessa Bombei had 14 points and Jovi Evans and Brooklyn Schneider each had 12 points.

“It’s a lot of growth from last year,” Durr said. “We all just want to win so bad and I think that’s been a big thing for us.”

Mid-Prairie                9   10  24  16  –  59

Solon                          19  23   9   16  –  67

Mid-Prairie (59) – Katelyn Harland 0-6 0-2 0, Jeorgia Evans 0-9 0-4 0, Jovi Evans 5-12 2-8 12, Brooklyn Schneider 2-5 7-10 12, Tessa Bombei 5-12 4-4 14, Morgyn Bender 7-11 1-3 19, Harper Pacha 0-2 2-2 2, Totals 19-57 16-33 59.

Solon (67) – Delainey Durr 5-11 3-3 16, Avery Johnson 0-1 2-2 2, Ellie Durr 1-1 3-4 6, Teagan Zearley 0-1 0-0 0, Laney Johnson 3-6 2-2 11, Laeni Hinkle 4-7 1-3 11, Tenley Levin 4-16 2-2 11, Jerzey Haluska 4-8 1-1 10, Totals 21-51 14-17 67.

3-point field goal – SOL 11-26 (D. Durr 3-7, A. Johnson 0-1, E. Durr 1-1, Zearley 0-1, L. Johnson 3-6, Hinkle 2-3, Levin 1-5, Haluska 1-2). M-P 5-12 (Harland 0-2, Schneider 1-3, Bombei 0-1, Bender 4-6). Rebounds – SOL 39 (Levin 11), M-P 36 (Jeo. Evans 10). Turnovers – SOL 28, M-P 25. Total fouls – SOL 28, M-P 18. Fouled out – SOL (Haluska, Levin). Technical fouls – None.

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