The latest edition of the KCII Area Game of the Week Saturday saw the Keota Eagles and Hillcrest Academy Ravens split a doubleheader in Kalona. The Keota girls scored the road win 55-51. The Ravens used a 10-1 first quarter run to lead 14-9 after one and took a 25-23 lead into half. A 9-2 Hillcrest run to start the third put the Ravens ahead by nine midway through the quarter, and that’s when the Eagles made their move. Keota trailed 41-35 going to the fourth, but outscored the Ravens 20-10 in the period, including putting up the final 12 to take the come-from-behind win. Live on the postgame show Keota head coach Jeff Sprouse talked about his team’s win.
Sprouse said, “I thought we handled the physicality pretty well. It’s been a while since we have been able to do that. That starts with our seniors, they set the tone. Ava Greiner, is a warrior at 5’1″, she just battles and it rubs off on the other kids. Grace Conger knocked down three big shots. We drove the ball hard. Kimmy (Clarahan) had a big three point play to put us ahead, and then buried a jumper. I thought our freshman class really stepped up tonight with Elyse Lyle, Cameron Haifley and Karlee Greiner. We had a starter down, and they really picked it up!”
The Eagles won turnovers 30-26, the Ravens won the boards by three. Grace Conger led the Eagles with 11 points and Kimberly Clarahan had nine. Malia Yoder led the Ravens with 22. Keota is now 4-8 after the win, while the Ravens drop to 5-6.
In the nightcap, the Ravens turned up the defense to hold down the high-powered Eagles in a 68-52 . Both teams found their offensive stride early, with the Ravens up 18-15 after one. The Hillcrest lead grew to 35-26 at the break. The Ravens stretched things out in the third with an 11-2 run and were on top 57-39 going to the fourth. Hillcrest was able to make enough plays down the stretch to keep the Eagles at arms length for the 16 point win. Live on the postgame show, Raven senior Seth Ours broke down the win.
Ours said, “I like to think that I can have this kind of performance every night. On offense, we were moving the ball really well. I was able to get to the open spots in their zone, and hit some early threes to get going. They switched to man and I was able to get some pull up jumpers and layups from there.”
Hillcrest shot 54% as a team on the night, dished out 20 assists and won the glass by three. Each team committed 11 turnovers. Ours had a game high 24 points, Rowan Miller had 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Mason Bender finished with 14 points and eight boards. Keota got a double double night from Billie Kindred with 23 points and 13 boards, Chase Haifley scored 18. The Ravens improve to 11-1 with the win as Keota falls to 9-2.