Ours carries Hillcrest

LETTS - Eli Ours outscored the home team Tuesday as Hillcrest Academy played its fourth consecutive road game. The Ravens won a Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division game over the Louisa-Muscatine boys basketball team, 54-24, to avenge an earlier home loss to the Falcons.

Louisa-Muscatine was without two players from that earlier contest and the Ravens capitalized. After a low-scoring first quarter, which ended with Hillcrest up 6-4, the Ravens outscored the Falcons 23-9 in the second period to lead 29-13 at the half. John Hughes and Ours each scored more in the second frame than Hillcrest's first-quarter total. Ours connected on four threes while Hughes poured in eight points in the second quarter to spark the Ravens.

While the offensive second quarter helped grab control of the game, the defense sealed it in the third quarter, allowing the home team a single point as the Ravens led 42-14 heading into the final stanza. A 12-5 run made it 54-19 with 4 minutes to play and the running clock kicked in.

'It was good to see us break out and get that separation in the second quarter and then build on the lead and not let them back in,” Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich said. 'We defended much better than when we played them earlier, and it always helps to shoot the ball well. Noah Miller had a strong defensive performance.”

Ours finished with 29 points, including seven threes, followed by Hughes with 14. Grant Bender connected on three triples for nine points, and Aaron Hershberger completed the scoring with two points. Aiden Krabill had team-highs of nine rebounds and six assists. Bender took in five steals and gave out five assists. Miller had four rebounds and three steals. As a team, the Ravens shot 54 percent from the floor and 50 percent from behind the arc.

Hillcrest goes to 7-4 in North play, 9-5 overall, and next plays Friday at home against Columbus.