Saturday is boys Shootout day for local teams in the KCII listening area. In the third place game in the conference, the Hillcrest Academy boys travel to face the WACO Warriors in Wayland. The Ravens enter the night with an overall record of 14-4, 12-3 in the Superconference North Division. They beat Lone Tree on Senior Night Thursday 58-40 with Grant Bender scoring a career high 30 points. On the year the Ravens shoot 49% from the floor, 35% from long range, both in the top 10 in 1A to go along with 22 rebounds, 12 assists, and eight steals. Bender leads the Ravens individually at 18 points and six boards per game. Luke Schrock averages three assists and two steals per night.

WACO comes into the game with a 15-4 record on the year, they are 11-4 in the South Division of the Superconference, finishing in third place. The Warriors are receiving votes in this week’s poll from the Iowa Associated Press. Last time out WACO beat Central Lee Thursday 67-44. They shoot 44% from the floor and 30% from downtown with a ninth in the state 36 rebounds per game, 15 assists, fourth in the state 14 steals, and second in the state five blocked shots per game. Hunter Hughes is the individual leader for the Warriors at 11 points, four assists and three steals per night. Simeon Reichenbach controls the glass with six per game. These two teams haven’t played since 2018, a 57-42 Raven win. Hillcrest has won 21 of the last 22 in the series. Action starts tonight at 7:45 at Bob Hilmer Court at WACO High School.