KALONA

On opening night, the Ravens had a chance to put to bed a long-standing losing streak in front of their home crowd and they did just that. 

After recording no wins a year prior Hillcrest began a brand new season with a 47-35 victory over the Moravia Mohawks on Nov. 17, their first win since 2021. 

“It was great to give the crowd something that they could cheer for,” Hillcrest coach Mitchell Drey said. “It was great for our girls to hear the crowd cheering for them, which was nice to have.”

This game began with a slow start for both teams, Hillcrest only scored three field goals in the first quarter while Moravia only scored two field goals in the second quarter, but it was the Mohawks who went into halftime with a six-point lead. 

“You always get five to nine minutes of not the best basketball,” coach Drey said about the season openers in general. “And I think in the first half Moravia forced us to play not the best basketball. They’re a really good team. We had a second in the halftime to kind of catch our breath and calm down.”

Coming out of halftime Hillcrest went on a 9-5 run to pull within two, leading to a steal and score by junior Delaney Shaw to tie the game. 

Following up Shaw, who led the team with 15 rebounds, fellow junior Malia Yoder hit a two-pointer to give the Ravens their second lead of the game, 24-22, a lead they never let go of. 

“In this game, they showed the amount of work, the extra hours they’ve done getting in the gym,” coach Drey said about his team. “A very physical game. Last year, the girls might not have been able to handle that physicality. This year they stepped up. They rose to the occasion. It was really cool to see.”

Outscoring Moravia 19-11 in the third quarter, the Ravens entered the final frame with a two-point lead. 

Maintaining and expanding on their lead the Ravens relied on timely three-point shots to close out Moravia and earn a 12-point victory. 

Ending the night with four made three-pointers, sophomore Claire Withrow scored a team high 20 points, with 12 of those points coming in the fourth quarter.

Yoder was the second highest scorer for Hillcrest. Yoder scored 14 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

“A credit to her. I told her all off season. Her job for us this year is going to be to score the ball. But for me that’s kind of a second thing,” coach Drey said about Yoder, “I want her facilitating. I want her making the defense focus on her and in the fourth quarter, they did just that.”

“They didn’t want her to touch the ball. That lets Claire step into a couple of step in threes as opposed to guard to guard threes, which are a lot easier to hit. Claire is a great shooter, she was able to hit those [threes] in that fourth quarter, which is great to see.”

Looking to build off an opening night win, Hillcrest stayed home to battle the Columbus Wildcats on Nov. 21. Up next the Ravens will battle the Highland Huskies on Nov. 28, this matchup will take place at Hillcrest Academy.