SOLON

Trailing Iowa 1A power North Linn by 13 points at halftime of its boys basketball district final, Hillcrest Academy cranked up the pressure.

Kale Bailey powered to the basket for a Ravens hoop in the first minute of the third quarter.

Then, after a defensive stop, Hillcrest senior Seth Ours hit a 3-pointer.

Suddenly, a 13-point Lynx lead dipped to 8 within seconds. A nervous silence fell over North Linn’s crowd while Hillcrest’s fans roared.

North Linn coach Travis Griffith quickly called time out.

The Lynx simply weren’t used to this. They had entered the Feb. 25 game with an eight-winning streak. They had lost just once to a Class 1A team all season.

What happened?

North Linn scored the next 12 points, clearing the path toward a 65-43 victory.

“Ouch. Big time ouch,” Ravens head coach Dwight Gingerich said after it was over.

Four days after defeating the Ravens, North Linn (22-3) advanced to next week’s state tournament by defeating Burlington Notre Dame, 56-52.

“North Linn, they really played well,” Gingerich said. “They play very physical and very clean.”

Mason Bechen, a North Linn senior, scored a game-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting and had a team-high 7 assists.

The loss ended a 21-win season for Hillcrest, its winningest season since 2017-18. The starting lineup all season included three seniors, Ours, Mason Bender and Bryce Bailey. Ours led the Ravens with 11 points against North Linn.

“Really just a tremendous group of seniors that led us this year,” Gingerich said. “It’s going to be a huge loss with those guys leaving (graduating). They were good role models for the younger kids.”

North Linn, which had opened tournament play with a 65-point win over Highland, started quickly against Hillcrest, as well. The Lynx went ahead 18-7 by the end of the opening quarter. But the Ravens fought back in the second quarter and especially in the third quarter when that quick 5-0 run produced a North Linn timeout.

The Lynx responded with a fast-paced attack that resulted in a 12-0 run within four minutes and a commanding 47-27 lead with 3:09 left in the third quarter.

The Ravens outrebounded the Lynx, 27-25, with Rowan Miller pulling down a game-high 8 boards. But North Linn hit 58% of its shots and drilled seven 3-pointers.

Mason Bender and Kale Bailey each scored 8 points for Hillcrest. Miller had 7 assists.

North Linn’s starting five scored 60 points, led by Bechen’s 24, Cole Griffith’s 14 and Drew Reis’ 11.

GAME STATS

NORTH LINN 65, HILLCREST 43

Hillcrest         7   15  10  11  -- 43

North Linn   18  17  16  14  -- 65

Hillcrest scoring: Seth Ours 11, Kale Bailey 8, Mason Bender 8, Rowan Miller 5, Bryce Bailey 4, Mason Helmuth 4, Lincoln Miller 3.

North Linn scoring: Mason Bechen 24, Cole Griffith 14, Drew Ries 11, Cael Benesh 7, Hayden Schmidt 4, Nolan Woods 3, Jackson Nielsen 2.

Hillcrest leading rebounders: Miller 8, Kale Bailey 6, Bryce Bailey 6.

North Linn leading rebounder: Ries 8.