The Hillcrest Academy Raven boys and girls basketball teams traveled to Wapello Friday for a Southeast Iowa Superconference doubleheader with the Arrows and Indians and turned it into a business trip, finishing off a sweep. The Hillcrest girls were 65-41 winners. They doubled up Wapello after one 16-8 and led 28-16 at half. The Arrows closed to as close as six after intermission but Hillcrest got hot late, putting up 23 fourth quarter points to slam the door. The Ravens shot 47% from the floor as a team, won the boards 35-27, turnovers 33-21, had 22 steals and 11 assists. Claire Withrow and Malia Yoder went for a matching 26 points and Delaney Shaw just missed a double double scoring eight and pulling in 11 boards. Hillcrest head coach Chris Nachtigall joined the KCII Radio Coaches Corner Saturday to break down the win.
Nachtigall said, “We had talked about getting out to a better start in games. I thought our girls responded well to that. Defensively, we held them down and we were executing on offense, looking to push the ball. Wapello is pretty big, so we had to limit their touches inside. Our pressure got to them and we were able to extend that lead. Malia Yoder continues to lead us in a lot of different areas. Claire Withrow, obviously a really good shooter for us, but she’s looking to do a lot of other things for us including picking up her defensive intensity. Niva Helmuth has done a great job boxing out, rebounding and getting to the free throw line for us. Delaney Shaw too. Those four really led us.”
Wapello was led by a Macey Kuntz 17 point 10 rebound double double. The Ravens are now 4-2 this year, 2-2 in conference, while the Arrows fall to 1-5.
The Hillcrest boys were also wire-to-wire winners 68-28. The Ravens took control early, leading 27-9 after one and 42-15 at half. A 19-8 run that spanned the full third quarter enacted the running clock and put the game on ice. The Ravens shot 53% from the floor as a team and 50% from deep. Hillcrest forced 31 Indian turnovers, had 25 assists and 17 steals. Mason Bender’s 12 point 10 rebound double double led the Raven balance as Seth Ours scored 13 and Bryce Bailey and Kale Bailey 11 each. Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich joined Saturday’s KCII Radio Coaches Corner to break down the victory.
Gingerich said, “Seth Ours knocks down three threes early, in his first three attempts. That got us off to a great start. Then the defense helped generate some easy opportunities for us. This group is really playing for each other. Very unselfishly. They are willing to make the extra pass and that raises our field goal percentage. I’m really pleased with how they are playing so selfless and balanced. You couldn’t draw that up any better Friday night. Really making it difficult on other teams to cover us.”
Tucker Fisk and Kinnick Richenberger each had six for Wapello who remains winless this season while the Ravens stay unbeaten at 5-0.