Lone Tree High School featured a pair of area schools last night on the hardwood with the host Lions splitting a doubleheader against Hillcrest Academy.
As heard on KCII, the Lion girls got out to a fast 7-0 start only to have the Ravens speed the Lions up to tie it at 9-9 after one. Lone Tree started to settle in by getting the ball inside to Kasey Chown and the home squad led 31-21 at the break. Keeping the Ravens at arm’s length was the theme of the second half and the black and gold defended their home court for a 52-40 victory. Chown finished with a game-high 22 points on nine made field goals and four free throws. This game followed a 23-point outing for the senior on Monday against Midland. Riley Krueger finished with eight points on Tuesday. The Ravens were led by Esther Hughes with 18 points and Malia Yoder had 13. Lion Head Coach Ryan Shelman tells KCII Sports the second quarter surge was the key in the win. “Heading into the second we knew we had to go back to being aggressive and we outscored them 22-12 in that quarter. We got the ball where it needed to go and shared it offensively. We forced some turnovers with our press and we did enough to create some separation.” Lone Tree improves to 5-7 overall and 3-5 in the SEISC-North. Hillcrest is now 1-9 and 0-7 in the league.
The boys’ game followed a similar beat with both teams trading punches in the first quarter and Hillcrest leading 19-17 after one. The score hovered around two-possessions for much of the second, but a 10-2 Raven run in the final two minutes set up a 39-27 halftime advantage. The momentum continued to grow in the second half and the Ravens picked up a 67-44 road victory. Grant Bender connected on 10 of 23 shots to finish with a game-high 26 points and nine rebounds. Luke Schrock added 16 on six of 11 made field goals. The Lions’ Cade Shield kept them around for awhile with his 15 point performance. Hillcrest stays in second place in the division with a 6-1 league mark and 7-1 overall, their seventh win in a row. Lone Tree is now 3-7 and 2-5 in conference.