KALONA

Claire Withrow and Delaney Shaw, who turned into a dynamic combination for the Hillcrest Academy girls basketball team in their first season playing together on the varsity last year, are off to another strong start.

Withrow, who is now a sophomore, has led the Ravens in scoring the first two games of the season and Shaw, a junior, is leading the Ravens in rebounding.

Withrow scored a team-high 13 points against Columbus on Nov. 21 and Shaw had a team-high 14 rebounds. The Ravens lost, 39-24.

Withrow, who averaged 9.6 points a game last year, has scored 33 points in two games. Shaw, who averaged 5.3 rebounds per game last year, had 29 rebounds in two games.

Hillcrest trailed Columbus by just one point, 11-10, in the first quarter, but the Wildcats answered with a 14-5 edge in the second quarter to grab a 10-point halftime lead in their season opener.

Ariana Vergara led Columbus with a double-double, 14 points and 13 rebounds. She also had a game-high 7 steals.

Hillcrest’s Kylee Statler added 6 points and 5 rebounds. Malia Yoder had 7 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

The Ravens will host Morningstar Academy at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

GAME STATS

COLUMBUS 39, HILLCREST 24

Columbus      11    14     3     11   --  39

Hillcrest          10      5     6       3   --  24

Columbus scoring: Ariana Vergara 14, Frannie Sosa 8, Aracely Garza 8, Lily Coli 6, Naveiah Garza 2, Kinlee Brown 1.

Hillcrest scoring: Claire Withrow 13, Kylee Statler 6, Malia Yoder 3, Delaney Shaw 2.

Hillcrest rebounding leaders: Shaw 14, Yoder 7, Statler 5, Withrow 5.