KALONA

Offense and defense were firing on all cylinders for Hillcrest in their season opener against conference opponent Highland.

Taking care of business in front of their home crowd, the Ravens cruised to a Southeast Iowa Super Conference victory, 57-18, over the Huskies on Nov. 28. 

This win continues a winning streak for the Ravens who have now won seven straight over the Huskies. Highland’s last win against Hillcrest came in 2020. 

Controlling this game from the jump, Hillcrest ended the first quarter with a 18-0 run, shutting out Highland in the first frame. Breaking their scoring drought, Highland junior Ayden Havel scored the first points of the second quarter, but Hillcrest did not let up on offense. 

Scoring a quarter high 25 points, the Ravens entered halftime with a 35 point lead. Thanks to the stout Raven defense, Highland did not score more than seven points in any of the four frames. 

For Highland its leading scorer was senior Nicolas Oriano. Oriano led the team in the points and rebounds department, scoring five and securing five boards. 

Showing out in his first game as a junior, Seth Ours lit up the scoreboard for Hillcrest. 

Ours was mightily efficient shooting the ball against Highland. Going 9-for-11 from the field, Ours led the Ravens with 25 points. Feeling comfortable from three-point range, Ours connected on a team high four three-pointers. He also led the team in assists (5) and steals (3). 

Hillcrest 64, Farield 49

In large part to a high scoring second quarter, Hillcrest picked up its second win of the young season, defeating the Fairfield Trojans in a non-conference matchup on Nov. 30. 

Playing in front of their home crowd, the Ravens found themselves tied with Fairfied, 10-10, after the first quarter.  Similar to their season opener the Ravens were able to heat up in the second frame, scoring a quarter high 20 points to take a 11 point lead going into halftime. 

 Fairfield battled back, outscoring Hillcrest in the quarter after halftime, but they only managed to reduce their deficit to 10. In the final frame the Ravens outscored Fairfield, 14-12, to put the game to bed.  

The Trojans had two players reach double digit scoring. Junior Luke Konczal led the team with 12 points and fellow junior Riley Perkins added 10 to be the second highest scorer. Konczal also led in rebounds (8) and Perkins led in assists (4). 

Scoring over 20 in back-to-back games, Seth Ours put up another impressive stat line in Hillcrest’s win over Fairfield. 

Leading all scorers, Ours ended the night with 22 points. Hitting a team high four three-pointers, he also collected five rebounds and dished out four assists. 

One assist shy of double double territory, sophomore Rowan Miller had the second most points on the team (13), the most assists (9), and tied for the most rebounds (6). 

Leading Hillcrest in steals was junior Phoenix Anderson. Anderson scored 10, secured six rebounds, and stole the ball four times. With last year’s team containing so much senior talent Anderson saw limited playing time as a sophomore, but expect him to step into a bigger role for Hillcrest going forward.  

Hillcrest 63, Rivermont Collegiate 28

Continuing to play at home the Ravens made it a clean sweep for their opening week of play. Scoring their third straight victory, Hillcrest defeated the Rivermont Collegiate Lions in a non-conference matchup on Dec. 2. 

 Clamping down on defense the Ravens only allowed three points in the second quarter and four points in the third quarter. Rivermont Collegiate's highest scoring quarter (13) came in the first frame. 

Seth Ours scored a team high 16 points to go along with three rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Last year Ours excelled as a sophomore, scoring the second most points on the team, and this year through three games it's safe to say Hillcrest plans to make Ours the focal point of their offense and he is making the most of it. 

Hillcrest’s second highest scorer was sophomore Owen Scott. Scott scored 10 and tied for the team lead in rebounds with eight. The other Raven to secure eight rebounds was junior Mason Bender. 

The Ravens played their first road game of the season against fellow conference member Lone Tree (2-1) on Dec. 5. Up next for Hillcrest (3-0) is a home game against the Louisa-Muscatine Falcons (1-2) on Dec. 8 and then a road game against the Winfield-Mt Union Wolves (2-0) on Dec. 9.