Ravens come away with a tough loss against the Comets

Ravens come away with a tough loss against the Comets

Junior Noah Miller attacks the hoop.
Hillcrest made the trek to Eldon Tuesday and came away with a tough 70-62 loss to Cardinal. A rash of turnovers over the last three minutes of the first quarter contributed mightily to a 12-0 Comet run to close the quarter with a 23-10 Cardinal advantage.
 
The Ravens saw the margin balloon to 32-16 three minutes into the second quarter before finding a groove and going on a 15-6 run to make it 38-31. A buzzer-beating three gave Cardinal a 41-31 half-time advantage. Hillcrest could muster only six third quarter points to trail 52-37 entering the final period. The Ravens fought back one more time but could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way. 
 
Seniors Eli Ours and John Hughes paced the Ravens with 18 and 16 points, respectively, and classmate Aaron Hershberger tallied nine points. Juniors Noah Miller and Aiden Krabill scored seven and six points, respectively. Sophomore Luke Schrock added four points and sophomore Grant Bender completed the scoring with two points. Ours had team highs of five assists and four steals, and Hershberger led Hillcrest rebounders with five, while Krabill had four boards.

Coach Dwight Gingerich said, “We made progress, and at the same time, still hurt ourselves by giving up offensive rebounds and allowing them to convert our turnovers into points. Once we take care of those problem areas, we will fare much better. It was good to see us push the break more, and overall, there was a better flow at both ends of the floor.”

The non-divisional loss drops Hillcrest to 2-3 overall, and the Ravens next play at home Friday against a strong Pekin squad.