Hillcrest Academy hosts basketball Jamboree

Hillcrest Academy hosted the Jamboree for eight area teams Monday evening, and lost in the finale to Clear Creek-Amana by the score of 39-27. The evening began with Holy Trinity handily defeating West Liberty. Mid-Prairie then nipped Keota 27-25, followed by Williamsburg defeating West Branch on a buzzer beater. The Ravens then took the floor against the Clippers.

CC-A started fast, forcing a quick time-out by the Ravens with the score at 8-2 after two minutes. A buzzer-beating three gave CC-A the lead at 24-11 after one period. The Clippers scored first in the second frame and led 30-15 before the Ravens got things going. HIllcrest fought back to outscore CC-A 12-9 the rest of the way.

Eli Ours scored 10 points with a pair of treys, John Hughes had seven and Kobe Borntrager tallied six to pace Hillcrest. Borntrager collected three steals and three assists in the two quarters of play. All ten players saw action for Hillcrest.

Coach Dwight Gingerich said “it was great to get on the floor and compete. We have to take much better care of the ball, and our transition defense and defensive rebounding must improve quickly. We played hard and gave it a good effort against a CC-A team that played well and made us pay when we made mistakes. It was a great opening evening of basketball and a good opportunity to see a lot of area teams at one time.”

HIllcrest opens regular season play at Lone Tree Tuesday. The JV Boys will play at 4:30, followed by Varsity Girls and Boys action at 6 PM. All games will be played at the high school.