Buffington’s 22 leads Winfield-Mount Union past Hillcrest

WINFIELD — Winfield-Mount Union sophomore Cam Buffington went off for a game-high 22 points on Thursday night, as the hosting Wolves knocked out Hillcrest Academy from the Class 1A Substate 5 tournament, 48-43.

It was WMU’s third win over the Ravens this season. The Wolves swept Hillcrest in two Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division games earlier in the year.

Buffington didn’t score in the first quarter, but the Wolves still held a 10-8 lead. WMU dominated the second to take a 24-12 lead into halftime.

“I thought we moved really well off the ball, getting into the paint and clogging things up,” said Winfield-Mount Union head coach Klay Edwards. “The first and second quarter, we were really active.”

Hillcrest, however, climbed back into the game in the second half. The Ravens got it back down to single digits, cutting the lead back to 33-26 before the end of the third.

The Ravens kept swinging in the fourth quarter. A pair of 3-pointers by freshman Luke Schrock anchored a Hillcrest comeback that had the hosting Wolves in a sweat.

Buffington found himself on the line on numerous occasions down the stretch, and answered the call almost every time, missing just one of his free throw attempts all game long.

“Last year we had them here, and I had two one-and-one [free throw] opportunities and I missed them both,” said Buffington, referencing a two-point loss to the Ravens last season. “I put that in my head, and I knocked them down.”

To complement Buffington’s 22, Andrew Brown hit a trifecta of first-half 3-pointers to finish the game with nine points. Abram Edwards scored eight. Carter Lloyd had four. Jake Edwards scored three, and Konnor Wade finished with two.

Schrock finished the night with 15 points to lead Hllcrest Academy. Grant Bender added 14. Seth Ours scored six. Jace Rempel had five, and Aiden Krabill chipped in three.

“I was proud of our effort tonight,” said Hillcrest Academy head coach Dwight Gingerich. “They understood what we needed to do differently than last game, and they played hard.”

Hillcrest Academy ended its season 15-6, with three of those losses coming to WMU. The Wolves (20-2) will take on Danville (21-2) in the District 9 final on Tuesday at Central Lee High School. The winner of that advances to the Substate final to play for a spot at the state tournament.