KALONA

Kale Bailey’s 3-point shot was a season highlight.

Or so it looked.

The Class 1A Hillcrest Academy Ravens trailed 2A West Liberty by two points in the final seconds of its boys basketball battle last Saturday at Hillcrest Union. In the last second, the ball wound up in the hands of Bailey, a freshman.

He shot.

Perfect.

Bailey was mobbed by his teammates. Head coach Dwight Gingerich screamed in delight. Spectators jumped up and down. Bailey’s 3-pointer had given the Ravens a dramatic 53-52 win.

And then it didn’t.

Bailey’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer didn’t actually beat the buzzer. The basket was waved off by game officials. Phone videos showed time had clearly run out just before the shot was taken. West Liberty walked off with a 52-50 victory.

“Wouldn’t that have been amazing if it would have counted?” Gingerich said afterwards.

The Ravens, who were seeking their third consecutive win against a River Valley Conference team in just two seasons, battled back from a seven-point deficit in the final two minutes to create that dramatic last-second shot.

A 3-pointer by Mason Bender with 15 seconds left trimmed West Liberty’s lead to one point, 51-50, and then West Liberty’s Seth Axsom sank a free throw with 13 seconds left.

Those busy two minutes also included two free throws by Hillcrest’s Seth Ours, the game’s leading scorer with 26 points, and a key steal by Rowan Miller.

“Rowan did a great job,” Gingerich said. “This group is continuing to get better.”

Ours, the No. 3 scorer in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North with 16.5 points per game, scored 48 points in consecutive nights for Hillcrest against Columbus and West Liberty.

Jayce McHugh led West Liberty (3-6) with 15 points.

Hillcrest (9-4) hosts Lone Tree next Tuesday.

Hillcrest 64,

Columbus 19

The Ravens scored the game’s first 17 points and cruised from there in a Jan. 5 game played at Columbus Junction.

Hillcrest junior Seth Ours scored a game-high 22 points, but did not play for most of the second half as head coach Dwight Gingerich rested his starters and used players off the bench.

The Ravens scored 45 points in the first half, taking leads of 23-6 after one quarter and 45-9 at halftime.

Columbus’ first points came on a pair of free throws by Ellis Hills-Carrier with 2:15 left in the opening quarter.

Ours hit 7-of-12 shots, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range, and led the Ravens with 5 steals.

Bryce Bailey added 15 points and Mason Bender scored 12 for the Ravens. Hillcrest sophomore Rowan Miller had a game-high 6 rebounds and a game-high 6 assists.

Hills-Carrier, a freshman, scored 12 points for Columbus (2-9)

Winfield-Mt Union 72,

Hillcrest 35

NCAA DI football recruits Abram Edwards and Cam Buffington combined for 34 points and 14 rebounds in a Jan. 2 game, leading third-ranked Winfield-Mt. Union to a 72-35 victory over the Ravens.

Edwards, an Army football recruit, scored a game-high 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting and had a game-high 8 rebounds. Buffington, an Iowa recruit, scored 14 points and Carter Loyd scored 15.

Mason Helmuth led Hillcrest with 10 points and 5 rebounds.

A 23-5 run by W-MU in the second quarter led the Wolves to their seventh straight win and their highest-scoring game of the season.

GAME STATS

WEST LIBERTY 52, HILLCREST 50

West Liberty  15   14   11   12  -- 52

Hillcrest          15     8   11  16  -- 50

West Liberty scoring: Jayce McHugh 15, Seth Axsom 14, Ryker Dengler 13, Jake Underbakke 4, Caden Laughlin 2, Ryan Noble 2, Cole Daufeldt 2.

Hillcrest scoring: Seth Ours 26, Bryce Bailey 9, Mason Bender 6, Kale Bailey 4, Lincoln Miller 3, Rowan Miller 2.

HILLCREST 64, COLUMBUS 19

Hillcrest   23  22  16   3  -- 64

Columbus  6    3    7    3  -- 19

Hillcrest scoring: Seth Ours 22, Bryce Bailey 15, Mason Bender 12, Rowan Miller 7, Kale Bailey 4, Owen Scott 3, Lincoln Miller 1.

Columbus scoring: Ellis Hills-Carrier 12, Elliot Wessley 5, Juan Chairez 2.

Hillcrest leading rebounders: Rowan Miller 6, Bryce Bailey 5, Bender 5.

Columbus leading rebounders: Hills-Carrier 4, Chairez 3.

WINFIELD-MT UNION 72, HILLCREST 35

Hillcrest  11    5    7    12  -- 35

W-MU     16  23  14   19  -- 72

Hillcrest scoring: Mason Helmuth 10, Kale Bailey 9, Mason Bender 5, Seth Ours 4, Bryce Bailey 3, Rowan Miller 3, Owen Scott 1.

W-MU scoring: Abram Edwards 20, Carter Loyd 15, Cam Buffington 14, Cole Milks 11, Jake Edwards 5, Gabriel Hemsworth 3, Max Edwards 2, Grant Anderson 2.

Hillcrest leading rebounders: Helmuth 5, Kale Bailey 4.

W-MU leading rebounders: Abram Edwards 8, Buffington 6.