WINFIELD

With a chance to take control of the conference on the line, Hillcrest went on the road and challenged the Winfield-Mt Union Wolves on Dec. 9. 

The Ravens and the Wolves both entered this Saturday Southeast Iowa Super Conference showdown with unblemished conference records. Remaining perfect in the conference play, WMU prevailed on its home court, defeating Hillcrest, 63-35. 

With this win WMU sits alone at the top of the SEISC North with a 5-0 conference record and a 5-1 record overall. This was Hillcrest’s first loss of the season, ending their five-game winning streak. 

The first quarter ended with the Ravens leading the Wolves by three, but WMU’s second quarter defense held the Ravens to just four points. 

“In the second quarter we kind of lost the flow,” Hillcrest coach Dwight Gingerich, “We had good offensive flow in the first quarter, but I think [WMU] stiffened up the D quite a bit and we turned the ball over, kind of didn’t move like we needed to offensively.”

In addition to limiting Hillcrest to four in the second frame, the Wolves scored 18 to erase their deficit and take an 11-point lead at the half. This was a deficit the Ravens were never able to climb out of. 

Taking full control of the game and effectively distinguishing any potential comeback, WMU scored over 20 in the third quarter. The Ravens entered the fourth trailing by 22.  

“I thought we kind of bounced back and did some good things in the second half,” coach Gingerich said. “But you know, obviously we’re trailing by quite a bit, the game was well in hand for them.” 

Playing in his third game of the season, WMU senior Cam Buffington led all scorers with 22 points. Fellow senior Abram Edwards recorded a double double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. 

“They have a lot of weapons, and they have terrific size.” coach Gingerich said about WMU. “We just can’t be turning the ball over and we got to make shots and we did that early. But they’re a good team, credit to them.”

Hillcrest Junior Seth Ours ended the game with a team high 15 points. Mason Bender added nine to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. 

“I felt like our guys competed. We didn’t quit and that’s what we were stressing as things kind of were getting away from us a little bit.,” coach Gingerich said. “And I thought even late we did some good things.”

 Hillcrest 75, Lone Tree 57

In their first road game of the season, the Ravens picked up a win against SEISC opponent Lone Tree, on Dec. 5. 

The Lions were able to keep pace with the Ravens throughout this contest, only trailing by seven after three quarters of play, but the final frame is where Hillcrest was able to firmly distance themselves. 

Scoring 26 points in the fourth quarter, Hillcrest managed to keep the Lions at bay and secure their second conference victory of the season. 

Lone Tree ended the night with three players scoring double digits. Senior Ethan Bockelman led the Lions with 18 points. Emmett Burke scored 14 and following close behind was Pietro Setti with 13. 

Feeling comfortable from three-point range, junior Seth Ours led the Ravens with a season high 29 points. Ours scored five three-pointers and tallied six assists. 

Hillcrest sophomore Rowan Miller led the team with nine assists and was the second highest scorer with 13 points. 

Hillcrest 45, Louisa-Muscatine 43

Playing a close game in front of their home crowd, the Ravens withstood Louisa-Muscatine’s second half surge and won their third conference game of the season on Dec. 8. This win made it five straight victories for the Ravens.
Leading all scorers in this contest was Louisa-Muscatine senior Ty Northup. Northup scored 22 to go along with 14 rebounds to end the night with a double double 

For Hillcrest its top scorer and rebounder was junior Bryce Bailey. Bailey put up 15 points and pulled down seven boards. Mason Bender, also a junior, scored nine and led the team with five steals. 

The Ravens went on the road and faced off against the Pekin Panthers (3-2) on Dec. 12. Up next for Hillcrest (5-1) is a home contest against the WACO Warriors (2-2) on Dec. 15.