Highland boys clip Hillcrest

Hillcrest Academy's boys basketball team travelled to Highland Monday and battled the 17-2 Huskies to the end in a Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division game.

Highland 49, Hillcrest 44

The Ravens trailed by three at 47-44 and had the ball with 15 seconds to play, only to turn it over. Forced to foul, Hillcrest watched Mason McFarland knock down two free throws to seal the win for the Huskies.

McFarland finished with 17 points and five steals while Zack Lasek had 18 points and seven rebounds. Lasek had 34 points and 11 rebounds Saturday in a 69-50 win over New London. He was 14-of-16 at the line ad 10-of-15 from the field.

Highland was 17-of-31 for 55 percent from the field and 11-of-13 for 85 percent at the foul line Monday.

Highland (13-2 North) jumped out to a 10-0 lead before an Aaron Hershberger jumper stopped the bleeding. The Huskies converted a steal to close the first period up 17-9. Highland then stretched the margin to 28-16 at the half, led by McFarland's 15 points, including three treys.

The Ravens battled back and cut it to 42-40 with two minutes to play, but could get no closer, as the Huskies salted it away at the line down the stretch.

'We dug ourselves a hole early, and we fought back tough,” Hillcrest coach Dwight Gingerich said. 'We simply need to eliminate a few more mistakes to give ourselves a chance. Highland is clearly a very good team and made the plays they needed to make.”

Kobe Borntrager scored 21 points on 8-of-11 from the floor to pace Hillcrest. Eli Ours recorded 11 points, six assists, five steals and four rebounds. Borntrager and Ours each had one triple. Aaron Hershberger scored eight points on 4-of-5 from the floor and had three steals.

The loss drops Hillcrest to 8-7 in North play, 8-8 overall. The Ravens close out the home season tonight against Columbus with Senior Night when seniors Drew Blauvelt and Kobe Borntrager will be honored prior to the game.

Highland 68, Hillcrest 28

Yani Gutierrez led Hillcrest with her second consecutive double-double, putting up 14 points and taking down 10 rebounds. Esther Hughes added 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.

'Danielle Laughlin (23 points) and Alyssa Brase (21 points) had great all-around games with Abigail Stransky (10 points) helping out with double figures,” HHS Jody Fink said. 'Jenna Sands (five assists, four rebounds, three steals) has quietly been coming into her own defensively and becoming an offensive threat. As a group, this was a good game but we still have plenty of room to improve on our overall game.”

Ft Madison 55, Fairfield 43

Friday in a road Southeast Conference game, Max Weaton led the Trojans with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists while Tate Allen contributed 10 points and four rebounds. Elan Ledger had seven points. JJ Lane notched six points and four assists. Drew Martin's stat line incuded seven rebounds, five points and five steals.

'We played a really good first quarter but then went over 8 minutes without scoring,” FHS coach Mick Flattery said. 'Give credit to Ft Madison for hanging in there and coming back and holding on.”

Fairfield hosts Burlington Thursday and plays at Keokuk Friday.

Keota takes 2

The Eagles recovered from an overtime loss with big wins Thursday and Friday.

JD Stout outscored the opposition Thursday with 30 points in a 66-27 win at HLV. Wyatt Sieren had 10 points, Luke Hammen grabbed seven rebounds and Carson Sprouse had six assists.

Friday was a 87-34 home win with Stout scoring 31 that included 5-of-6 3-pointers. Sprouse added 15 points. Stout had seven rebounds and six assists.

The two South Iowa Cedar League wins moved Keota's record to 13-3, 12-2.