Photo courtesy of Lone Tree Girls Basketball social media

Lone Tree and Hillcrest Academy basketball met Tuesday night for a Southeast Iowa Superconference doubleheader in the KCII Area Game of the Week.

The Lady Lions took game one 58-14. Lone Tree had its foot on the gas from the opening tip, surging to a quick 14-5 lead after the first eight minutes. They followed this up with a 20-3 second quarter to head into the locker room up 26. It was more of the same in the second half, as relentless back-court pressure forced Raven turnovers and set the Lady Lions up for easy shots on the other end. Finley Jacque continued the hot start to the season, adding 20 more points Tuesday night. While she led Lone Tree in that department, she was one of nine Lady Lions to score. Malia Yoder and Claire Withrow each had six for a Hillcrest team that struggled to get the offense going, as the Lone Tree defense held the Ravens to single-digits in all four quarters. Lone Tree improved to 5-1, awaiting Cedar Valley Christian and English Valleys later this week. Hillcrest is back in action Friday with Louisa-Muscatine.

It was a tighter contest between the boys in the nightcap, with Hillcrest ultimately prevailing 75-57. A pair of fast-paced offenses were on display in the first quarter, featuring nine different scorers between the two teams. The Ravens’ early seven-point lead went unchanged in the second quarter after Lone Tree and Hillcrest both went for 17. In the second half, a buzzer-beating three from Emmett Burke narrowed the lead to six and provided Lone Tree with some momentum heading into the fourth. Hillcrest pulled away in the final frame, however, behind 11 points from Seth Ours. Ours led all scorers with 29 overall, and also surpassed the 500-point milestone with his first field goal of the night. Rowan Miller, Mason Bender, and Phoenix Anderson joined him in double figures with 13, 12, and 11 respectively. Burke led the Lions with 18, Ethan Bockelman scored 16, and Pietro Setti finished with 13. Lone Tree hosts Cedar Valley Christian on Thursday, while Hillcrest looks to keep its 4-0 record in tact on Friday against Louisa-Muscatine.

The games were heard on the KCII3 Stream available at KCIIradio.com. The Area Game of the Week stays in the Superconference this Friday as Columbus welcomes WACO.