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Washington Evening Journal
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Hillcrest knocks out Keota
Raven boys eliminate Eagles for second-straight year
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
KALONA — For the second-straight postseason, the Hillcrest Academy Ravens have knocked the Keota Eagles out of the Substate basketball tournament.
On Thursday night, the two teams met in Kalona for a rematch of last year’s 61-50 postseason Raven victory. The game ended in similar fashion, with Hillcrest Academy celebrating a 70-55 win.
The two teams were on fire offensively in the first quarter, both hitting the 20-point mark. It was Keota that had a lead after the first buzzer, as Chase Haifley banked in a deep 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 22-20 lead.
Keota’s offense slowed down over the next two quarters, but Hillcrest’s kept on rolling. The Ravens took a 40-32 lead into halftime, and stretched that into a 58-43 lead after three.
“Offensively, we were on, right from the start,” said Hillcrest Academy head coach Stephen Bender. “We were clicking. We did a better job of taking advantage of mismatches this time than we did last time.”
Keota had beaten Hillcrest, 59-44, in Keota in early January, but Thursday night’s grudge match looked a lot more like the one a year earlier, thanks in large part to a great night inside for the Ravens.
Leading that charge was sophomore Gibson Scott, who went off for 23 points and 14 rebounds to pace Hillcrest Academy.
“Coach Bender, this week, has really told me to be aggressive and take some risks,” Scott said. “And to not be afraid to make a mistake.”
Scott, Kale Bailey and Rowan Miller and Lincoln Miller all went into double digits in the scoring column. Bailey finished with 17 points, Rowan Miller went for 13 points and 10 assists, and Lincoln Miller finished with 11 points.
“Rowan was finding me all over the place,” said Scott. “I wouldn’t have had as many points as I did if Rowan wasn’t there. He’s a dog.”
Also scoring for the Ravens was Isaac Birky, who finished with four points, and Kayden Estell, who scored two.
Haifley finished the night with 23 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead Keota. Ayden Galindo finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, and was also a perfect 5-for-5 from the field.
Jackson Vittetoe collected eight points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Brennan McGuire had six points, and Porter Cave finished with five.
Keota ended the season at 15-7. Hillcrest Academy (20-4) will now take on Calamus-Whealand in the Substate semifinals on Tuesday night. The winner of that game gets either Top-seeded Notre Dame (22-2) or Holy Trinity Catholic (16-7) in the final.
Holy Trinity Catholic 46, Pekin 38
Elsewhere in the Substate, Pekin failed to pull off a quarterfinal victory against Holy Trinity, despite pushing the Crusaders all night long.
After falling behind 7-0 early, Pekin scored the next nine points. The two teams were tied 9-9 after one quarter, and 22-22 at the half.
HTC held a 35-32 advantage entering the fourth quarter, and Pekin could never tie it up in the fourth, as the Crusaders ended the Panthers’ season at 19-5.
