KALONA

A career night has Hillcrest Academy girls’ basketball moving on.

Junior Claire Withrow poured in a career-high 30 points and the Ravens needed every last one of them to turn away a spirited bunch from New London, 47-44, in the opening round of the Class 1A girls’ basketball regional playoffs Thursday night at Hillcrest Union Gymnasium.

“She has done a lot, she has grown immensely as a player this year,” first-year Hillcrest Coach Christopher Nachtigall said. “In the past, it’s looking for her shot. Now, she is attacking off the dribble and finding it and that’s what really got her going. She started doing that and then the three started hitting because they knew she was going to attack if they got up on her. She is an elite shooter, she is an elite scorer and it is always fun to see her have a game like that.”

After falling behind one-win New London at halftime, 21-20, Withrow and the Ravens caught fire. Withrow scored 13 of her team’s first 18 points in the second half, then added an assist on a basket by senior forward Delaney Shaw that gave Hillcrest a 42-34 lead with 4:53 left in the game.

“It’s amazing,” Withrow said of her scoring splurge. “It feels great. It gets the crowd really engaged and our team’s energy up and it just helps us continue that momentum. … Whenever they shut down one, there is always that other option. Finding my teammates is also a huge option there, too.”

New London (1-22) scored seven of the final nine points to cut its deficit to three points before Hillcrest dribbled out the clock.

While forty-four points was a season high for the Tigers, they were limited to just 13 through the first eight minutes of the second half by the refocused Hillcrest defense.

“We just picked up our intensity,” Hillcrest senior Malia Yoder said. “Started playing tighter defense on them. We were able to get some more steals that way and go on some runs.”

Yoder finished with eight points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists for Hillcrest (11-11), which won a regional playoff game for the first time since 2019.

“Feels amazing,” Yoder said. “All four years I have played, we’ve never won a regional game.”

Shaw collected six points, 10 rebounds and three steals, while junior forward Niva Helmuth added 10 rebounds and six steals.

Hillcrest visited Highland (18-7) in a 1A regional quarterfinal Tuesday. 

The Ravens lost both meetings to Highland this season. The Huskies won their home matchup by 20 points in early December, then responded to a halftime deficit at Hillcrest Jan. 10 by winning by six points.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work and effort and just playing together and as a team,” Withrow said. “Just go out and give it our all. Chris (Nachtigall) and (Assistant Coach) Marshall (Swartzendruber) have been preparing us really well for it. I think we’re ready. Just got to play hard and continue that effort.”