Ravens come up short

Ravens come up short

Kobe Borntrager; Photo by Evelyn Gerber

Hillcrest hosted Lone Tree in the first game of second-round conference play Tuesday, and fought the Lions tough, but came up short by the score of 62-51. It was tied at 14 after one quarter. The Lions created separation in the second quarter, only to see the Ravens claw back. Lion star Keegan Edwards knocked down a half-court shot to beat the buzzer at the half for a 32-28 Lion lead. Lone Tree surged in the third period, outscoring the Ravens 19-11, including another buzzer beating triple by Edwards, to lead 51-39 entering the fourth frame. Hillcrest went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to 53-49 with three minutes remaining, but could get no closer, as the Ravens were forced to foul down the stretch.

John Hughes scored 17 points with nine rebounds and two blocks to pace Hillcrest. Eli Ours tallied 14 points, including 6-6 from the line, with five assists, and Kobe Borntrager had 10 rebounds to go with eight points. Luke Schrock added five points, including a trey, and Aaron Hershberger scored four points with seven rebounds. Will Kolck had two points and AIdan Yoder completed the scoring with one free throw. Noah Miller had three assists.

Coach Dwight Gingerich said “each of our eleven guys jumped in and contributed. We gave up several costly second chances, allowed them to convert off several tough turnovers, and we simply missed too many free throws. Those things add up and are obviously costly against quality teams like Lone Tree. I appreciated our effort and that our guys didn’t quit, and like the improvement we are making..”

Hillcrest drops to 4-6 overall, 4-5 in conference play. Lone Tree, led by Edwards’ 28 points, move to 9-3 overall, 7-2 in league play. The Ravens next play Friday on the road at Louisa-Muscatine, and then return home Saturday to play Washington in a boys doubleheader beginning with the JV at 4 PM.