Ravens Rebound: After a Tough Loss to Wapello, Ravens Handle the Highland Huskies

Ravens Rebound: After a Tough Loss to Wapello, Ravens Handle the Highland Huskies

Junior Noah Miller brings it up the court.

Hillcrest Academy was on the road for the third time this week, this one the short trip to Highland, where the Ravens got back on the winning track and came away with a hard-fought 41-36 victory over the Huskies. Highland led 12-7 after one quarter before the Ravens outscored the Huskies 19-11 to take a 26-23 lead at the half. 

The third quarter was a tough one for Hillcrest, as the Ravens scored just one point in the frame. Fortunately, the Huskies scored only six, and led 29-27 after three periods. A 5-0 spurt gave the Ravens the 32-29 lead three minutes in to the fourth quarter, only to see the Huskies trim the margin back to one. Two free throws from Eli Ours on a technical foul assessed to a Highland player made it 36-33 with two minutes remaining, and then the Ravens sealed it with free throws. Hillcrest knocked down 12 free throws in the final period, including five from John Hughes, four from Eli Ours and three from Aiden Krabill.
 
Hughes paced Hillcrest with 16 points and six rebounds, and Ours had 14 points, including 7-7 from the line, two assists and two steals. Noah Miller bounced back after missing almost all of the Wapello game due to an ankle injury, scoring five points, including a big bucket off a steal, and grabbing five boards and two steals. Luke Schrock knocked down a big three and Krabill completed the scoring with three free throws. Krabill also had five rebounds, two steals and two assists, and Aaron Hershberger had six rebounds. 

Coach Dwight Gingerich said, “While the game was not always pretty, we hung in there and I liked the way we finished. We found a way on a night the shots were not falling, and it was a team effort all the way. We kept our composure down the stretch when things got even more physical. Each of our guys made big plays, including Aiden Krabill taking a pair of charges, which proved to be big.”
 
Hillcrest closes the week at 6-4 in conference play, 8-5 overall, and next plays at Louisa-Muscatine Tuesday.