The Hillcrest Academy Raven girls basketball team started their new season Friday night when they welcomed Tri-County to Dwight Gingerich Court at Hillcrest Union. The Trojans were unruly guests during their time in Kalona, taking a 37-31 win. Tri-County opened the scoring with a three pointer in the game’s first few minutes, only to see the Ravens respond with a 10-2 run, including seven straight points to take a 10-5 lead midway through the first frame. From there, the Raven offense went in the freezer, going the next 18 minutes of game action without a field goal. Tri-County took advantage, closing the first on a 6-0 run to take an 11-10 lead into the second. In the next frame the Trojans outscored Hillcrest 8-3 to hold a 19-13 advantage at the break. Out of the half, the run continued for Tri-County as they posted the first 10 points of the third quarter before Raven senior Esther Hughes broke the field goal drought with a half court buzzer beater just before the fourth. Her three point goal stopped the Trojan run at 26-3, but the score stood at 29-16 going to the fourth.

In the final period, Hughes put Hillcrest on her back, scoring 14 in the quarter, including a personal 7-0 run that got the Ravens back within six, that’s as close as Hillcrest would get. Despite the late push, the lead was too much to overcome and Tri-County did enough down the stretch to hold the Ravens at arms length. The two teams combined for 70 turnovers with the Trojans committing 36. Tri-County won the rebounding battle by eight and were led by Grace Randall’s 10 points. Hughes led all scorers with a game high 26 points. Tri-County starts the season 1-0, Hillcrest falls to 0-1. The Ravens will be back on the floor Tuesday when they travel to Winfield-Mt. Union to meet the Lady Wolves.