Ours climbs; Ravens fly over Highland

KALONA - Jace Rempel caused the most noise at Hillcrest Union Tuesday when he buried a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter of the Ravens 60-25 Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division win over Highland.

The home crowd cheered during the first quarter when the Ravens scored the first seven points and led 18-2 to start the second period. The crowd clapped as the Ravens built a 31-8 lead by halftime and expanded it to 49-17 by the end of the third. But when Rempel's triple splashed through the net, the decibel level peaked.

'I think everybody loves to see everybody do well,” Hillcrest head coach Dwight Gingerich said. 'We see him make threes in practice every day and works his tail off.”

The sophomore has played in eight games this season with a previous 3-pointer his only score to go with two rebounds, two assists and a steal. His season total went from three to eight as he made a two earlier in the fourth quarter.

'I think the cheering is symbolic of the support the guys have for each other,” Gingerich said. 'There's a lot of encouragement that goes both way with the guys.”

The Huskies have needed encouragement this season as the coronavirus has been wreaking havoc with practices and games. Highland's first game wasn't until Dec. 15 and it went 3-7 in 10 games.

Tuesday's game at Hillcrest was the Huskies (3-6 North) first since Jan. 19. Chase Schultz had seven points in the loss, Ramses Vergara six, Connor Grinstead five Kaige Vonnahme three with Tyler Thompson and Brenton Bonebrake at two each.

'I feel bad for them because I know they haven't been able to practice but we still have to go out, play hard and do a good job and we played at a good level, intensity wise,” Gingerich said. 'We were able to get a lot of guys in, we moved the ball well, shot it well and we were able to get into the flow and have a good team game.”

Eli Ours had the best game as he drilled five 3-pointers to finish with 21 points and Hillcrest improved to 11-6 overall and 9-5 in the league. Other points scored by the Ravens were John with Hughes nine, Noah Miller seven, Josiah Beachy and Aaron Herschberger four apiece, Will Kolk and Aiden Krabill three apiece, Grant Bender and Luke Schrock two apiece.

Ours has been going up numerous career lists at Hillcrest. He became the eighth one in Ravens history to surpass 1,000 points earlier this season.

He moved past Jesse Ney (1,025 from 2005-2009) and Chance Miller (1,033 from 2009-2012) previously. Tuesday he eclipsed Jace Bailey (1,122 from 1996-2000) and Luke Gingerich (1,133 1996-2000) for fourth, moving his point total from 1,115 to 1,136. Mike Hershberger's 1,403 from 1986-1990 is third on the list.

Having already surpassed Thomas Davis's 122 threes from 2003-2006, Ours is sixth in career 3-pointers with 133. Luke Yoder is fifth with 137.

'Scoring points and moving up a list is not a goal for me or even among my goals,” Ours said. 'I guess it was pretty cool to be the eighth one to score 1,000 points but going deep in the postseason is the biggest goal for me and the team.”