LONE TREE
Lone Tree’s Lions were confident, speedy and ready.
Coming off their first road win of the season Monday at Midland, the Lions greeted Hillcrest Academy witb a full-court …
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LONE TREE
Lone Tree’s Lions were confident, speedy and ready.
Coming off their first road win of the season Monday at Midland, the Lions greeted Hillcrest Academy witb a full-court pressure defense in their Southeast Iowa Super Conference game Tuesday night. Seven minutes into the opening quarter, Lone Tree held a three-point lead.
That’s precisely when HIllcrest junior forward Grant Bender began a career night.
Bender popped outside the perimeter to drill a 3-pointer with a minute left in the quarter to tie the game at 17 and then ended the quarter with a reverse layup for a two-point HIllcrest lead. The Lions never led again.
Bender scored a career-high 26 points and had a team-high 9 rebounds, leading the Ravens to their seventh consecutive victory, 69-44.
The win set up a showdown against Winfield-Mt. Union on Friday night. The Ravens (7-1 overall) are 6-1 in the conference and W-MU is 7-0.
“Winfield’s playing really well, undefeated in the conference. It’s a huge game,” Hillcrest coach Dwight Gingerich said.
The Ravens have not lost since their season opener against Mediapolis, but Tuesday’s win at Lone Tree was much tougher than the 22-point margin suggested. It wasn’t until late in the second quarter, when Hillcrest ended the first half with an eight-point run, that the Ravens began to pull away from the Lions (3-7).
“We found a flow, got some momentum,” Gingerich said. “We put together some runs.”
Cade Shield, a senior, led Lone Tree with 16 points. Senior guard Adam Knock added 7 points.
A basket by Shield put the Lions in front, 17-14, late in the first quarter and another Shield hoop kept the Lions within two, 25-23, in the second quarter.
But the Ravens ended the second quarter on a 14-4 run and went ahead by 15, 52-37, by the end of the third quarter. Hillcrest held Lone Tree to 10 points in both the second and third quarters.
“They’re a good defensive team,” Lone Tree coach Tom Squiers said of the Ravens. “They play really well together.”
Junior guard Luke Schrock added 16 points and 5 rebounds for Hillcrest. Josiah Beachy had 7 points and 6 rebounds.
The Ravens are without senior guard Noah Miller, who tore an ACL before Christmas and is now lost for the season.