The Hillcrest Academy boys basketball team saw their five game winning streak come to a close at the hands of the Wapello Indians Friday 56-39. In a game heard on AM and FM KCII, Wapello led wire-to-wire, holding a 19-11 lead after the first frame. In the second quarter, the Ravens went cold from the floor, going through a six minute drought from the field while Wapello put together a 12-3 run and held a 34-19 lead at half. Out of the break, the Ravens pulled within 12 before Wapello answered with a 10-0 run to stretch the advantage to 22. Hillcrest scored eight straight in the fourth to shrink the margin to 13 but would get no closer. After the game, Wapello head coach Ken Spielbauer talked about his team’s night. “Defensively, our guards did a great job of not letting the ball get to the high post. We also started shutting down their dive stuff. When they made a run, we didn’t panic. We have done a great job of staying calm most of the year and we responded well. We thought we played well for 90% of the game but there are still things we can do to get better. Any time you beat a team coached by Dwight Gingerich you know you have beaten a good team.”

Wapello put three in double figures, led by Maddox Griffin with 19 points. Caden Thomas added 16 and Trent Murray 15. The Indians also outrebounded the Ravens by nine. Eli Ours led Hillcrest with 17 points. With the win, Wapello remains unbeaten in the Superconference at 8-0 and improves to 10-1 overall. The Ravens fall to 7-5 on the season.