Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy

The Hillcrest Academy boys basketball team saw their season draw to a close Friday in the Class 1A, District 6 semifinals against the Lynnville-Sully Hawks by a 56-48 score. The Hawks jumped out to a 13-8 lead after one and were on top 27-19 at half. The Ravens cut into the deficit in the third, winning the period 14-12 to climb within 49-43 going to the fourth. In the final period, Lynnville-Sully put together an early run, but the Ravens made a late charge, after trailing by 13 with just over a minute to go, they pulled back within two possessions with just over 30 seconds remaining before the Hawks put the contest away at the line. Following the game, Raven head coach Dwight Gingerich talked about what he saw, the season and his seniors. “Lynnville-Sully played really well. They shot the ball extremely well. Grant Bender battled and did a nice job defensively on their big kid and the guards were strong. Grant Bender who has lived and breathed this for the last several years. The growth he has made as a player and person has been fun to observe and be a part of. He’s been tremendous. What a career! Luke (Schrock) just competes. He’s been tremendous. Playing good defense without fouling and hit some big shots. Put together quite a year for himself and finished strong. Jace Rempel hit a big three for us tonight. He’s been a ‘glue guy’ for us. Understands the big picture of things. Helps our team a lot. Josiah Beachy came to play tonight. Had a big offensive board late. Was an important defender for us through the year. Was one of our leaders in assists. He embraced his role as a blue collar guy. The postgame was an opportunity to thank them for their effort. We got better as the season would down. We were playing our best basketball at the end of the year and that’s what you always want to see. There’s a lot of growth within this team, individually and as a group.”

The Ravens won the turnover battle 13-5 but were outrebounded 28-17. Preston Rodibaugh led Lynnvile to the win with 17 points. Hillcrest was paced by 19 points from Luke Schrock and 16 from Cole Ours. With the loss, the Ravens conclude their season at 12-11 and say goodbye to seniors Luke Schrock, Jace Rempel, Grant Bender, and Josiah Beachy.