The Hillcrest Academy Raven boys and girls basketball teams are back inside the friendly confines of Hillcrest Union for a Superconference showdown with Wapello Tuesday. The Hillcrest girls are 6-8 this year and 4-7 in conference after a 63-43 win over Winfield-Mt. Union Friday where Claire Withrow scored 23, Niva Helmuth 13 and Malia Yoder 10. This season, the Ravens score and give up 48 points per night, shooting 33% from the floor, 26% from three and 49% at the line with 34 rebounds, 16 steals, 11 assists and 25 turnovers per game. Individually, Withrow leads at 16 points per game, Delaney Shaw pulls in 10 boards and Malia Yoder has five steals and four assists per night. Head coach Chris Nachtigall joined the KCII Postgame Show Friday after their win over WMU to talk about the team’s recent success.
Nachtigall said, “I feel like we have been making a lot of strides the last few games. I feel great for the girls to be able to go out and put a full game together. We have the athletes to be able to defend well and to get steals. We practice how to do that. These girls are really figuring out how to execute it. As a team, we have started to pound the ball inside early and that’s opened up the three. Anytime Claire (Withrow) is open we want her to look at that shot. She’s hitting a high percentage for us. I thought we attacked the basket well which then left her open outside and other girls like Maria Portillo and Lydia Beachy have been hitting threes as well. We’ve been seeing it happen in practice, but, then it’s certainly fun to see them come out and do it in a game.”
The Wapello girls are 5-10 overall, 3-9 in conference after a 48-35 loss last night to Burlington Notre Dame. This year the Arrows score 36 per game and give up 47 on 33% shooting, 18% from three and 51% at the line with 28 rebounds, nine assists, eight steals and 28 turnovers per game. Macey Kuntz leads Wapello at 11 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals per night. Hillcrest has won two straight in the series including a 65-41 road victory in December.
The Raven boys are 13-1 overall and 10-1, leading the Superconference North Division after a 51-43 Friday win in Kalona over Winfield-Mt. Union, led by Kale Bailey’s 13 points, 12 from Bryce Bailey and 10 for Mason Bender. This year, Hillcrest scores 66 per game and gives up 41 on 52% shooting, 33% from three and 64% from the line. Individually, Seth Ours scores 16 per game to lead, Bender grabs seven boards per night and Rowan Miller goes for six assists and three steals per game. Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich joined the KCII Postgame Show live Friday after their win over the Wolves to talk about what the team is doing well during their eight game winning streak.
Gingerich said, “We’ve been doing a better job of rebounding and we keep the ball moving. Teams key on Seth Ours, he’s a 1,000 point scorer. He’s going to be a target. Bryce (Bailey) has been shooting the ball pretty well so he’s getting extra attention. I think our other guys have gotten more comfortable with being aggressive. We just have to keep working on that because Mason Bender is a very capable scorer. Kale Bailey’s had some big buckets. Rowan Miller has hit some big shots for us. His penetration has been great in creating for others.”
Wapello is winless in 14 games overall. They were beaten by Burlington Notre Dame Monday 78-43. The Indians score 45 per game and give up 67, shooting 41% from the field, 22% from three and 51% at the line with 29 rebounds, 10 assists, seven steals and 21 turnovers per game. Individually, Justyn Faulkner averages 17 points six rebounds, five assists and two steals to lead. The Ravens have won seven straight over the Indians, including a 68-28 road victory in December. Action starts with the girls game tonight at 6p.m. On Dwight Gingerich Court at Hillcrest Union.