The Pekin Panthers spoiled the virtual alumni night celebration for Hillcrest Academy Friday in Kalona with a boys basketball win over the Ravens 61-33. In a game heard on AM and FM KCII, Pekin put together three different runs over the course of the contest to control action from start to finish. In the first quarter a 7-0 burst put the Panthers up 17-6 midway through the frame before Hillcrest pulled within 20-16 early in the second quarter. The Panthers would close the first half on a 10-0 run to take a 30-19 lead into the locker room. Out of the half, Aaron Hershberger knocked down a pair of free throws for Hillcrest to bring the Pekin lead back to single digits at 30-21. From there Pekin, blitzed the Ravens for 28 consecutive points, enacting the continuous clock and hold Hillcrest scoreless for the next 13 minutes en route to the win. After the game, Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich talked about his team’s night. “We were taking the ball better after some early turnovers. We were defending pretty well. I felt pretty good about where we were late first quarter and early second. From there though it seemed like Pekin’s aggressiveness and their length bothered us. Due to that we ended up making some repeated mistakes like tipped passes and lunging on defense. They took advantage of that with ball movement and finding the open man and knocking down shots. It became that kind of a game and it was hard for us to stem that.”
The Hillcrest Academy boys basketball team is back in Kalona Friday night when the Pekin Panthers come to town. The Ravens are 2-3 on the year after Tuesday’s 70-62 loss to Cardinal in Eldon. Eli Ours led the Ravens in the contest with 18 points. Hillcrest is led in scoring on the season by Ours with 14 points per game. He also has a team best three and a half assists per contest and over three steals per game. John Hughes leads Hillcrest on the glass, pulling in five rebounds per game. Pekin stands at 5-1 on the season. They rolled through Columbus on Tuesday 71-30 in Packwood. On the season, the Panthers are led by a trio of seniors in double figures with Brock Long at 17 points per game, Brady Millikin at 15 and Brayden Sobaski at 10 points per contest. Millikin and Long share the team lead at three assists per game. Cael Lyle has a team best six boards per contest. This week, Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich, broke down his team’s performance against Cardinal. “After a rough start to each half I thought we settled in and played well in the second and fourth quarters. We gave up too many offensive rebounds and that probably was the difference in the game. We went man and zone both tonight and against man we had some issues with penetration, against the zone they knocked down some outside shots. I thought our effort was great tonight but our execution leaves a little to be desired. This is a team that has a ways to go when it comes to learning what we are all trying to do. It was good to see Eli Ours shoot the ball well tonight and lead the break. I think it was his best game of the season. Aaron Hershberger also stood out tonight. He continues to get better and was more assertive on the offensive end and finished well on the offensive glass. Aidan Krabill also had a good night. He is natural in his ability to find the open man and he knocked down a couple of jump shots.”
The Hillcrest Academy boys basketball team fell below the .500 mark for the season on Tuesday with a 70-62 road loss at Cardinal of Eldon. The Ravens built a small lead early, up 6-2 in the game’s first two minutes, but the Comets closed the first quarter on a 21-4 run to take a lead they would not give up the rest of the night. After falling behind by 16, the Ravens clawed back into the game late in the first half to pull within seven before an Ian Liles banked in three pointer put Cardinal up 41-31 going to the break. Cardinal won the third quarter 11-6 to push their advantage back to 15 going to the fourth. Hillcrest would put together one more charge, cutting the deficit to seven again in the final minute but could get no closer. After the game, Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich talked about his team’s play. “After a rough start in the first quarter and a little bit again in the third quarter, we played pretty well in the second and fourth quarters. We gave up too many offensive rebounds and that probably was the difference in the game. We had some trouble with their penetration in our man so we went to zone and they knocked down threes. I really liked the effort of our guys tonight. The execution leaves a little bit to be desired. This is a team that has a way to go as far as learning what we’re all trying to do. It was good to see Eli Ours shoot the ball well tonight. He had some good penetration, mixed things up, ran the ball well and his assist numbers went up. I thought it was his best game so far this year. Aaron Hershberger is a guy who continues to get better. I thought tonight he asserted himself more on the offensive end. He has a nice power finish inside after an offensive rebound. Aidan Krabill made some pretty great plays. He surprises you with some of the things he is able to do. He’s natural in his ability to find the open man and he knocked down a couple of jump shots.”
The Hillcrest Academy boys basketball team is back on the road tonight when they travel to Eldon to meet the Cardinal Comets. The Ravens are an even 2-2 on the season after a win on the road Friday at Columbus 44-27 behind 13 points and seven rebounds from John Hughes. On the season, the Ravens are led by Eli Ours scoring 13 points per game. Hughes leads the Ravens on the glass at five rebounds per contest and Noah Miller has the team lead dishing out four assists per game. Cardinal comes into the contest also at 2-2 on the year. Last time out they beat WACO in convincing fashion 75-38 Friday. The Comets were up 26-12 after one quarter and 48-27 at the halftime break before putting the game away with a 16-2 run that lasted the entire third quarter. For the year the Comets are led by Griffin Greiner at 18 points and Landon Becker at 17 points per game respectively. Greiner leads Cardinal at three assists per contest while Becker pulls down a team best six boards per game. This week, Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich broke down his team’s play last time out against Columbus. “We executed better offensively and our defense created some offense. I thought we played together better. We took care of the ball. We did the things that you need to do to play winning basketball. John Hughes asserted himself inside. He got some boards, hit some shots, got to the line. Aidan Krabill did some nice things at the four for us tonight. Luke Schrock gave us some great minutes off the bench. It was a team effort tonight. We got great contributions from starters and off the bench.”
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