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In a series filled with subplots it seemed only fitting that the latest edition of the River Valley Conference rivalry between West Branch and Mid-Prairie came with the conference crown on the line.

For anyone that has followed the rivalry recently Thursday’s finish was as fitting an ending as could be imagined.

Thomas Gould hit an off-balance game-winner as time expired to lift Class 2A No. 10 West Branch to a thrilling 50-48 win over Mid-Prairie in Wellman.

West Branch improved to 17-1 on the season with the win and secured sole possession of first place in the RVC South with a 11-1 mark against South Division opponents.

“That was my first one,” Gould said of the game winning shot. “And this was a really big game to hit one of those so It feels great. And I have everybody on my side, I love this team so much.”

Gavin Hierseman led four West Branch players in double figures with 13 point as West Branch won its fifth straight game.

Gould finished with 12 points including the game winner while Peyton Miller had 11 off the bench and Jeff Bowie had 10 points and eight rebounds.

“Its fun and I wouldn’t want to do it with any other team,” West Branch coach Jason Kern said. “These kids play for each other I love them and 17-1, conference champs back to back, I couldn’t ask for anything better right now.”

Thursday was another in what is becoming a long line of tight and entertaining meetings between the two teams.

Each of the last four meetings between the two teams have been decided by six points or fewer including a 44-41 win for the Bears in the first meeting between the two teams this season in West Branch.

A Mid-Prairie graduate, Kern improved to 3-0 in games at Mid-Prairie with Thursday’s win following a 57-55 win in Wellman last season.

“Every one of them here this past two years has been close,” Kern said. “It’s very stressful for me leading up to this game. I don’t like coming back here and coaching. I had a lot of good memories here as a player, this is the place that built me, ground up growing up, so it’s special to come here and coach, growing up in this gym all these years. And it’s a lot different on the bench when you can’t really have control out on the floor.”

West Branch led 19-9 after one quarter and had a 25-9 lead in the second quarter before Mid-Prairie (13-7, 9-2) closed the half on an 18-6 run.

It was close the rest of the way.

Mid-Prairie took a 48-45 lead on an Aidan Rath putback with 2:30 left but West Branch made the plays late.

“We told the kids before the game we’re going to go on a run and might go up big but they’re going to get a run at some point and we’re going to face a little adversity and we’ve just got to stay together as a team when times starts getting tough,” Kern said. “I thought we really did especially there at the end I think we got down a couple of times, once in the third a couple of times in the fourth.”
Hierseman tied the game at 48 with third 3-pointer of the game with 1:20 left setting up  wild sequence in the final minute.

West Branch got possession when Mid-Prairie turned it over with 10 seconds left and Gould came up with the wild game-winner from 18 feet as time expired.

“I was just trying to get the ball into our big man because he was having a hell of a game and I was going to pass it and I felt the man grabbed my arm so I just threw it up to try to get some free throws at the end of the game,” Gould said. “And it ended up going in. I didn’t even see the basket.”

Miller had six rebounds and two assists for West Branch while Simon Palmer had four points, nine rebounds and three assists for the Bears.

West Branch will close out the regular season by hosting Class 3A second-ranked Monticello on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Rath led Mid-Prairie with 14 points and eight rebounds and Will Cavanagh had 11 points and three rebounds for the Golden Hawks.

West Branch            19  12  8  11  –  50

Mid-Prairie               9   18  8  13  –  48

West Branch (50) – Gavin Hierseman 13, Thomas Gould 12, Peyton Miller 11, Jeff Bowie 10, Simon Palmer 4

Mid-Prairie (48) – Aidan Rath 14, Will Cavanagh 11, Alex Bean 9, Jackson Pennington 5, Carter Harmsen 4, Ethan Kos 3, Luke Boyse 2

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