Photo Courtesy of Hillcrest Academy Yearbook
The Hillcrest Academy Raven boys basketball team started their playoff run with a 64-48 win at Hillcrest Union over Central City Monday night. Hillcrest led 19-15 after one and 30-25 going to half. Out of the break, the Ravens sprinted to a 20-6 run that spanned the full third quarter to grow the lead to 50-31 going to the fourth and put away the win. The Ravens shot a sweltering 57% as a team, pulled down 22 rebounds, had 22 assists, 11 steals and only seven turnovers.
A senior trio got to double figures for the Ravens, led by 21 points for Mason Bender, 14 for Bryce Bailey and 12 for Seth Ours. Kale Bailey’s eight boards were best as were Rowan Miller’s eight assists and Bender’s four steals. The win is the 20th of the season for Hillcrest, the first time they have hit that mark since 2018, and moves them into the District 7 semifinals Thursday night against Keota, in a game you can hear live on FM 106.1 and the KCII1 App.