The Pekin Panthers spoiled the virtual alumni night celebration for Hillcrest Academy Friday in Kalona with a boys basketball win over the Ravens 61-33. In a game heard on AM and FM KCII, Pekin put together three different runs over the course of the contest to control action from start to finish. In the first quarter a 7-0 burst put the Panthers up 17-6 midway through the frame before Hillcrest pulled within 20-16 early in the second quarter. The Panthers would close the first half on a 10-0 run to take a 30-19 lead into the locker room. Out of the half, Aaron Hershberger knocked down a pair of free throws for Hillcrest to bring the Pekin lead back to single digits at 30-21. From there Pekin, blitzed the Ravens for 28 consecutive points, enacting the continuous clock and hold Hillcrest scoreless for the next 13 minutes en route to the win. After the game, Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich talked about his team’s night. “We were taking the ball better after some early turnovers. We were defending pretty well. I felt pretty good about where we were late first quarter and early second. From there though it seemed like Pekin’s aggressiveness and their length bothered us. Due to that we ended up making some repeated mistakes like tipped passes and lunging on defense. They took advantage of that with ball movement and finding the open man and knocking down shots. It became that kind of a game and it was hard for us to stem that.”

Pekin was led by 29 points from Brock Long. The Ravens got 21 from Eli Ours including five three point goals. With the loss, the Ravens are now 2-4 on the year and travel to Highland on Tuesday. Pekin is now 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the Superconference.