Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy

The Hillcrest Academy Raven boys and girls basketball teams saw both ends of a Southeast Iowa Superconference doubleheader go the wrong way Tuesday as Mediapolis came to Kalona and claimed two victories. The girls contest went to the Bullettes 69-29. Esther Hughes opened the scoring with a three but Mediapolis put up the next 25, leading 29-6 after one and 49-16 at half, despite four first half Raven three pointers. MEPO enacted the running clock in the second half and finished the victory. Malia Yoder led Hillcrest with a career high 12 points, but the Ravens couldn’t overcome the early run, 33 turnovers and a 17 rebound deficit. Hillcrest is now 1-11 on the year, Mediapolis is 11-0.

The boys contest was key for Superconference positioning with second place in the standings on the line. Mediapolis took the contest 39-29, to sweep the season series from the Ravens. The defenses controlled action on the night with MEPO leading 12-5 after the first and 21-15 at half. Hillcrest would fall behind by 11 in the second half before rallying to pull within four but would get no closer in the fourth quarter. Grant Bender led Hillcrest with 14 points and Aiden Krabill had 12. The Ravens are now 7-3 overall, 6-3 in conference. Mediapolis is 9-2 overall and 8-1 in league play.