It was an Alumni Night to remember for the Ravens as Hillcrest sent Wapello home with a loss, 59-46, on December 20. 

On a night where the alumni of Hillcrest academy filled the stands there were prizes to be given out, a live band playing music during warm-ups and halftime, and activities for the audience to participate in. 

One activity during halftime was a putting contest, where the winner would be awarded money, against two alumni that were randomly selected. Safe to say with so many alumni in the building and with the holidays drawing near it was a cheerful experience for many.

“It’s always a fun night, you know the game that’s closest to Christmas when people are here. College students are back. A lot of alumni come back and it’s fun to run into them before the game,” Hillcrest coach Dwight Gingerich said about the atmosphere of the game. “It’s always fun and it’s just always very nice to see a lot of people that you don’t see very often.”

This was a closely contested game going into the fourth quarter, with the Ravens leading 39-34, but it was in the final frame where Hillcrest made the necessary plays offensively to score 20 points and firmly pull away from Wapello. 

The leading scorer for the Ravens, sophomore Seth Ours, kicked off the final quarter by sinking in three straight three-pointers.

Finishing the night with 22 points and making six three-pointers in total, Ours’ burst of points at the beginning of the fourth quarter was the spark the Ravens needed to close out Wapello. 

“Seth played his heart out, he hit some big shots. He played awesome and he is doing a lot of things out there leading the team as a sophomore. Playing hard, being receptive to try to learn all the things he’s got to keep track of,” Gingerich said about the play of Ours. 

The second leading scorer for Hillcrest with 15 points was senior Grant Bender. Bender was able to secure five rebounds in total with three of them being offensive rebounds. He also finished the night recording three steals and committing no turnovers.

This was the last game the Ravens will play in 2022 and ending the year with a win is a great boost for their confidence. Now while they wait and practice they hope to avoid any potential rust in the two weeks before their next game. 

“Let’s just get healthy and then we’ll try to come back and just try to stay active through the break and come back ready to go ,” Gingerich said about how his team will tackle the long break between games. “We got some big games right away after the break. Hopefully we can get healthier and at the same time rest and not get too out of shape from the break.”

After a break for the holidays Hillcrest (5-2) will return to action on the road when they face off against the Winfield-Mt Union Wolves (6-1) on January 3. Then the Ravens will return home to battle Columbus (1-8) on January 8.