Hillcrest Union in Kalona played host to a Southeast Iowa Superconference hoops doubleheader Tuesday between the home Ravens and visiting Winfield-Mt. Union Wolves. The boys contest went to the guests 72-35. WMU led 16-11 after one quarter, but took control with a 23-5 run that spanned the entire second period to lead 39-16 at half. The Wolves doubled up the Ravens in the third, 16-8, to stretch their advantage to 55-24 before outscoring Hillcrest 17-11 in the final frame. The Wolves dominated the numbers, winning the turnover battle 28-12, outrebounding the Ravens by 14, dishing out 15 team assists and had eight players score. Senior forward Abram Edwards led WMU with 20 points and six boards, he spoke with KCII Sports after the game about what led to his and the team’s success. Edwards said, “I thought we did a good job defending people, staying in front, and helping when we needed to. Offensively, we worked the ball into the post, then found shooters on the outside. We looked weak side and found cutters. Creating turnovers for fast breaks and easy buckets also helped. (When you’re out there on a run) it’s a lot of fun! You have that momentum going for you. The whole team feels like you’re clicking and you can’t really do anything wrong. Feels great!”
Carter Loyd had 15 points, Cam Buffington 12, with a team best six assists and Cole Milks scored 11. Hillcrest was led by a career high 10 points off the bench from Mason Helmuth. The win keeps WMU atop the Superconference North Division at 8-0, 9-1 overall, Hillcrest is now 5-3 in conference, 8-3 on the season.
The girls game belonged to the Ravens 56-48. WMU took an early 10-8 advantage before Hillcrest closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run to take a lead they wouldn’t give up the rest of the night. The teams played even in the second leaving the score at 24-18 Ravens going to half. Hillcrest won the third quarter 16-10 to extend the lead to 40-28 going to the fourth and started the final period with a 10-0 run that included a Claire Withrow four point play to put the contest away. The Ravens won the stat sheet including the turnover battle 34-26, pulled down 30 rebounds and went eight of 11 at the line in the win. Hillcrest had five players make the scoresheet led by a game high 23 points for Malia Yoder to go with nine rebounds. Withrow scored 20, including five made threes. Niva Helmuth pulled in nine boards. Yoder, Withrow and Helmuth joined KCII sports to talk about the keys to the win. Helmuth said, “I think just working really hard on defense was important. Putting in the effort. Knowing where you’re supposed to be. We knew our part. Once you make a shot, it gets loud. It’s easy to keep going! ”
Withrow continued, “We’ve all been putting in a lot of work over break on defense and pressuring the ball. Those things really helped us out tonight. We came out strong in the fourth quarter. We all played together. We made strong passes, we took good shots. The energy in the gym was great!”
Yoder added, “Effort was important. We’ve been working on boxing out. Doing the little things.”
WMU got a monster 24 point, 10 rebound double double from Madisen Kellogg but it wasn’t enough. The Ravens are now 4-8 on the year, 1-8 in Superconference play, while the Wolves fall to 3-9 and 1-8 in the league. Each team is back in action Friday when the Wolves host Lone Tree and the Ravens travel to Columbus.