The Hillcrest Academy Ravens hosted the Lone Tree Lions in a Southeast Iowa Superconference hoops doubleheader Tuesday in Kalona. The Lady Lions scored a road league win 41-24. Defenses controlled the first eight minutes with the Ravens on top 9-4 after the first period. Lone Tree made their move in the second quarter, outscoring the Ravens 23-7, on the strength of five three point goals, to take a 27-16 advantage into half. Defenses dug back in after intermission with Lone Tree holding the lead down the stretch, beating the Ravens 14-8 over the game’s final 16 minutes. After the contest, Lady Lion head coach Ryan Shelman spoke with KCII Sports about his team’s big second quarter and his standout performances. “We’re scrappy, we move, we have long arms, we teach to get tips and that’s what leads to our steals, especially with how we play defense. I thought Vivian Zaruba did a great job getting a lot of fingers on balls. Riley Krueger, Avery Lisk, Finley Jacque, they just were in really good position. Our post players did a nice job keeping the ball out of the interior. I think our whole team stands out. We had an active bench tonight. That makes me really proud as a coach. I thought our girls did a good job of having fun, playing the game together. Jacque, Zaruba, Alyson Ford, Rylie Shield, Avery Lisk, Riley Krueger all hit big shots for us. I thought we had a great game all the way around.”
The Lady Lions forced 30 Hillcrest turnovers and outrebounded the Ravens by 11. Rylie Shield led the way for Lone Tree with nine points, Vivian Zaruba added eight. Malia Yoder posted a game high 13 points for Hillcrest, Claire Withrow had eight. With the win, Lone Tree is 5-2, Hillcrest falls to 0-5.
The boys game featured a tight first half before a huge Raven third quarter led Hillcrest to a 78-46 win. The Ravens led 14-12 after the first quarter and 26-23 at half. The floodgates opened after the break with Hillcrest scored the first seven and ultimately put up 33 points in the third frame to the Lions 10 to push the advantage to 59-33. The Raven momentum continued into the fourth period where they took it home 19-13 over the final eight minutes to secure the win. After the game, Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich joined KCII sports to talk about the keys to the win. “Second half, there were times where that was just a thing of beauty to watch. We were doing things the right way. We were moving without the ball, getting the ball inside, and finishing strong. The guys are improving. It was a real team effort by everybody. Grant Bender played outstanding. Luke Schrock was key for us tonight. Seth Ours came up really big. Had big threes. Guided the team out there. Got to the basket, and that’s something we have been talking with him about. He got to the line. Jace Rempel hit some big shots. He gives us a lot of glue. He had good rebounds, great defense and played his best game of the year.”
The Ravens forced 19 Lone Tree turnovers, 13 after half and won the battle on the boards by seven. Grant Bender had 27 in the win, 21 after the break. Seth Ours went for 15, including four threes and Luke Schrock added 11. Emett Burke and Tyce Alt each scored 10 for Lone Tree. With the win, the Ravens are now 2-1 on the year, Lone Tree falls to 1-4.