Defense Develops Even as Ravens Fall to a Strong Wapello Team
Hillcrest Academy took to the road Friday, this time to Wapello, and suffered a 56-39 setback to the Indians, currently undefeated in conference play. The loss snapped the Ravens’ five-game winning streak and gave Wapello the season sweep over Hillcrest.
Following the teams knotted at 4-4 early, Wapello scored the next seven points for the 11-4 lead. The Indians led 19-11 after one quarter and then 34-19 at the half. The Indians built the lead to 52-29 before Hillcrest got things going with a 10-0 run to shave the margin to 52-39 with just under two minutes remaining.
The Ravens were paced by Eli Ours with 17 points, including three treys. John Hughes scored six points and Aaron Hershberger and Grant Bender each scored five. Aiden Krabill knocked down a triple, Luke Schrock had two points, and Aidan Yoder completed the scoring with a free throw. Ours also had four assists and four rebounds. Bender recorded four rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Hershberger totaled four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Coach Dwight Gingerich said, “Wapello played very well and we didn’t adjust to their tempo soon enough. We gave up too many transition baskets along the way, and that got us on our heels, and was tough to recover from. We took care of the ball for the most part, but they scored directly off several of our turnovers, and that makes it tough. We moved the ball pretty well, but had a tough time making shots against their length and activeness. I liked how we finished and this game gives us plenty of things to work at as we continue to grow as a team.”
Hillcrest drops to 5-4 in conference play, 7-5 overall.