Girls Basketball Postseason Awards & Recap
WARRIORS TOP RAVENS IN REGIONAL OPENER
Article credit: Zach Ulin/KCII
The WACO Warrior girls basketball team started the tournament trail Thursday with a first round Class 1A Regional win over Hillcrest Academy in Wayland 44-32. It was a tight defensive battle through the first half, with the Warriors on top 9-7 after one and 19-14 at half. WACO opened things up with a 17-7 run that spanned the full third quarter, leading 36-21 going to the fourth. The Ravens made a push to get it back to single digits but the Warriors stopped the run and scored the win. Brenna Graber led WACO with 15 points, Emma Wagler added 14 for the Warriors. Hillcrest got 14 points from Claire Withrow and 12 from Malia Yoder. Niva Helmuth had eight rebounds and Yoder three assists. With the loss, the Ravens end their season at 6-15. WACO improves to 13-9. They meet 17-4 Montezuma tonight on the road in the Regional Quarterfinals.
HILLCREST’S WITHROW ONE OF THE STATE’S TOP SHARPSHOOTERS
Article credit: Zach Ulin/KCII
One of Class 1A’s deadliest shooters from downtown operates right here in southeast Iowa. Hillcrest Academy’s Claire Withrow finished in the top 10 ten in Iowa 1A girls basketball for three point shooting in the recently completed season. The Raven sophomore knocked down 66 long balls on the season, third most. Her three, three-balls per game were also third most. Withrow’s 35.3% from deep was 15th best in 1A for those with at least 100 attempts. She led the Raven girls scoring 14.3 points per game, sixth most in the Southeast Iowa Superconference North Division. Hillcrest ended the year with a 6-15 overall record, their most wins since 2019.
FOUR RAVENS FLOCK TO ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Article credit: Zach Ulin/KCII
The Southeast Iowa Superconference has awarded four members of the Hillcrest Academy Raven girls basketball team with spots on this year’s All-Conference team.
Sophomore guard Claire Withrow was a first-team selection for the Ravens. She led the Raven girls scoring 300 points this season. Her 14.3 points per game were sixth best in the Superconference. Her 32.5% from the floor was also best on the team. Withrow was third in 1A girls basketball for three point shooting, hitting 66 total threes. Her three, three-balls per game were also third most. She also finished with 67 rebounds, 40 steals and 26 assists.
Junior guard Malia Yoder was a second-team selection for Hillcrest. She led the Ravens with 73 steals and 54 assists. She also put up 262 total points on 31% shooting, 23% from three and posted 129 rebounds.
Hillcrest had a pair of honorable mention selections with juniors Lydia Beachy and Delaney Shaw. Beachy had 73 rebounds, 60 points, 36 assists and 19 steals. Shaw finished with a team best 180 rebounds to go with 63 points, 45 steals and 25 assists.
WITHROW ON ALL-UNION GIRLS BASKETBALL LIST
Article credit: Andy Krutsinger/Southeast Iowa Union
See the entire list HERE.
The 2024 high school girls basketball season saw balance restored to the Union coverage area. The Union coverage area didn’t have any teams make it to the 2024 state tournament, but there were plenty of highs this season, and that reflects in this year’s All-Union squad.
The Hillcrest Academy girls are seeing big leaps in their basketball program, and a major part of that is due to leading scorer Claire Withrow. Withrow put up 14.3 points per game in her sophomore season. She was deadly from behind the 3-point line, knocking down 66 3-pointers this season.
With Withrow and fellow standout Malia Yoder (12.5 ppg) coming back next season, along with a heap of young talent behind them, the Ravens look to be in great position when basketball season comes around next school year.