Yani Gutierrez and Esther Hughes career nights helped give the Hillcrest Academy girls basketball team their second win of the season with a 45-30 victory over Columbus Feb. 4 in Kalona.

Gutierrez had the hot hand early on as she helped pace the Ravens to a 20-5 first quarter lead. She tallied 14 of the team’s 20 points which included three 3-pointers.

She spent the majority of the rest of the game crashing the boards and getting her teammates involved. She added five more points throughout the contest to run her total to 19, but she collected a career-high 21 rebounds while dishing out four assists and picking up two steals.

“Yani has done a nice job for us this season finding her shot and really put on a show in the first quarter,” said Hillcrest head coach Kari Heusinkveld. “When she’s rolling, it elevates the level of play for our entire team.”

Picking up the slack on the offensive end following the first quarter was sophomore Esther Hughes. The Ravens scored 25 points over the final three quarters and Hughes scored 18 of them on her way to a career-high 24 points.

“Esther has improved ten-fold from last season,” said Heusinkveld. “She has put in a lot of extra work to be a threat on the court, and as just a sophomore, you can see that she will have a bright career.”

Hughes showed the ability to go length of the court on multiple occasions in the third quarter. She pulled down rebounds at one end and laid it in on the other end to keep the momentum going.

The momentum was felt among the whole team as they held Columbus scoreless in the third quarter, extending their 31-9 halftime lead to 40-9 going into the final quarter.

Hughes finished with six rebounds and two assists. Senior Sarena Gerber pulled down seven rebounds, had two assists, and recorded two steals.