The Burlington Notre Dame Nikes took the third place Southeast Iowa Superconference Shoot Out contest Monday at Hillcrest Union over the Ravens on their home floor by a 34-29 final. The first run of the game belonged to the Nikes as they staked claim to an early lead with a 9-2 sprint in the first quarter. Things were tied at nine after one and Hillcrest trailed 16-14 at half. The Raven run came in the third, when they put in eight of ten to go up 25-20, their final lead of the night. Notre Dame answered that push with six in a row to take a 26-25 lead to the fourth. In the final period Notre Dame closed on an 8-0 run including hitting three of four free throws in the final minute to ice the game. After the contest, Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich talked about his team’s play. “Both teams struggled to make shots. It was the kind of game where the intensity level was high and when we did get loose for shots they didn’t seem to fall. They got a few offensive rebounds late on free throws. We had too many turnovers, 15 of them total, seven in the first quarter before we settled in and that was costly. I thought Luke Schrock grew again today. We got quality minutes from our bench also, Josiah Beachy, Jace Rempel and Will Kolck all came in and gave us good minutes.”

The Ravens were led by Eli Ours at 13 points, the only player for either side to reach double figures. The Ravens committed 15 turnovers and were outrebounded by nine. With the loss, Hillcrest wraps up the regular season at 12-7, Notre Dame finishes at 13-6. The Ravens open the playoffs Monday when they host Iowa Valley. You can hear that game live on AM and FM KCII with a 6:30 Washington HyVee pregame show and 7p.m. Tip off.