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Eagles soar to playoff victory over Ravens
Keota girls basketball takes down Hillcrest, advances to 1A-6 quarterfinals
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
KEOTA — There were some nerves among the Keota girls basketball team as it took the floor Thursday night for its first round playoff game. The Eagles were hoping to avoid a repeat of their disappointing 61-51 loss to Winfield-Mt. Union in the first round of last year’s Class 1A district tournament.
“I'd be lying if I told you they weren't thinking about it from last year,” Eagles coach Jeff Sprouse said. “That’s part of the reason, I'll be honest, they were tight, and I knew it before the game and we just tried to hopefully get through it.”
Whatever jitters were running through this year’s cast of Keota seniors and talented underclassmen quickly melted away within the first few minutes. Keota dominated Hillcrest Academy in a 57-27 win in the first round of the Class 1A Region 6 playoffs.
Hillcrest opened the game with a 2-1 advantage, but wouldn’t hold another lead and was held to just three points in the first quarter. Keota won the opening frame 19-3.
“I think when the first couple shots went up, all our nerves kind of went down,” senior Kennedy Jackson said. “When everyone has confidence we all play pretty well, and I think that helped a lot.”
The Eagles racked up 24 steals, hounding the Ravens and creating easy buckets in transition. Keota shot just 3 of 22 from beyond the arc, but let its defense do the talking and held the Ravens to just 10 points in the second half.
Cameron Haifley, who scored just eight points off the bench in last year’s loss to W-MU, led the way for Keota. The Eagles leading scorer finished with 20 points, two rebounds, two assists and a team high eight steals and two blocks.
Emily Conger and Elyse Lyle finished with 10 points each. Lyle shot 5 of 7 from the field and added seven rebounds.
Conger was second only to Haifley with five steals. Freshman Jessalyn Aller had a strong game off the bench with nine points, eight rebounds and four steals. Keota has now breached 50 points in five of its last six games.
“The kids have done a good job of finding each other,” Sprouse said. “So I think that's kind of helped our consistency on offense. The other thing is, push pace when you can, too. When you get the run out in that third, fourth quarter and the other team is getting tired, put the hammer down and just let it rip.”
Hillcrest got some offense going in the second quarter, scoring 14 points and only losing the period by one. The Ravens defense was better in the third, holding the Eagles to nine points. But Hillcrest couldn’t break through Keota’s defense and mustered just six points in a period that also saw leading scorer Claire Withrow exit the game with a leg injury.
Withrow finished with nine points. Keota was also able to hold Hillcrest’s second-leading scorer Helmuth to four points. The Eagles denied entry passes to the senior and played strong paint defense to prevent the Ravens from recovering from a first quarter deficit.
“We knew that we had to keep them out of the paint and we didn't tonight,” Hillcrest coach Chris Nachtigall said. “You allow a physical team to get in the paint, they're going to score buckets... We did some good things early, but then we didn't get shots to fall and then they went on that (17-0 first quarter) run.”
Freshman Brynna Boshart showed why she’ll be a promising part of Hillcrest’s future, leading the Ravens with 12 points. She finished as the team’s third leading scorer this season at 7.2 points per game.
“Tonight was one of her best games that she's had,” Nachtigall said. “She ended up turning the ball over a little bit later in the game, but really was aggressive looking for a shot, really attacking the rim well. She has a bright future ahead of her.”
Hillcrest’s season ends at 7-15, including a 3-13 mark in Southeast Iowa Super Conference North play. Five seniors wrapped up their careers, including Withrow and Helmuth, along with Stavia Miller, Maria Portillo and Tara Poole.
Keota advances to the quarterfinals of the 1A-6 playoffs where it faces a rematch against Highland. The Eagles handed the Huskies one of three losses this season, a 73-51 defeat at the 4 Corners Shootout on Nov. 21.
Highland didn’t lose again until Jan. 19 and won the SEISC North with an undefeated conference record. The Huskies took down Winfield-Mt. Union 64-35 in the first round of the playoffs.
“I'm super excited,” Jackson said ahead of the rematch. “I hope we win. The first time we won by about 20, but we have to think that we've never played them again and play our hardest.”
Tipoff of the marquee rematch between the Eagles and Huskies is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Highland High School. The winner will face the winner between Dunkerton and Pekin in the 1A-6 semifinals.
