After a competitive first half, the Hillcrest Academy boys put on a clinic in the third quarter of a 78-46 win over Lone Tree on Tuesday.
The Ravens came out of the halftime locker room with a 26-23 lead. Less than three minutes of the second half had elapsed by the time Luke Schrock’s 3-pointer extended the Hillcrest lead to 43-25.
“There were times where that was just a thing of beauty to watch,” Hillcrest coach Dwight Gingerich said. “We were doing things right. We were moving without the ball better, we were getting the ball inside. We were finishing with strength inside, we weren't sloppy in our footwork as much.”
Jace Rempel hit a 3-pointer to begin the offensive barrage. A steal led to a quick bucket for Josiah Beachy. The Hillcrest pressure forced another turnover and the ball popped quickly from Schrock to Beachy to Seth Ours for a layup. Grant Bender scored 13 points during 17-2 and 16-0 third-quarter runs. He finished with a game-high 27 points.
“Afterwards, we just talked about how when we just execute across the board — offensively defensively on the same page, it makes such a difference, and it's good for the guys to see that,” Gingerich said. “The joy that they experienced when they see it coming together like that — that's what makes it fun.”
Rempel also sparked the 16-0 run with a 3-pointer. He assisted on the next basket with a steal and long pass to freshman Rowan Miller, who beat the Lone Tree defense down the court for a layup.
Miller and Schrock each finished with seven points.
“Jace Rempel hit some big shots for us,” Gingerich said. “Jace wasn't feeling the best, wasn't in school yesterday and bounced back today to play his best game of the year.
“It was a good team effort by everybody. Grant Bender played outstanding. In that second half, Luke Schrock, Seth Ours came up really big, hit some big threes and guided the team out there.”
Early in the game, Lone Tree took care of the basketball and matched the Ravens’ offensive execution. Drew Gauley hit a pair of threes and tied the game 12-12 late in the first quarter.
Ethan Willoz also had six points in the first half as Lone Tree built a 21-17 lead.
“In the first half, I thought we really did a good job of handling that pressure and we took better shots,” Lone Tree coach Tom Squiers said. “In the second half, they made us panic and they sped us up a little bit.”
Lone Tree went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter, but Ours responded by scoring the next nine points for Hillcrest. He finished the game with 17.
"Seth or does a lot of things for us and he's only a sophomore, but he understands the big picture of things well," Gingerich said. "He's a willing hard worker always and it was really fun to see him just grow tonight. His penetration was better, he knocked down shots. He was taking care of the ball, maintaining his poise, executing different things we're trying to do at both ends and being a voice out there as a younger player."
Lone Tree freshman Emmett Burke answered the Ravens’ first 3-pointer of the game with one of his own to pull the Lions within two. On the next trip, he took the ball right to the basket and tied the game. He scored seven points in the second quarter and hit another three to end the Ravens’ 17-2 run.
“He can shoot the ball and he's a good defender,” Squiers said. “He's really hard on himself when he makes a mistake and he's got to get past that. But he's only a freshman and freshmen are going to make mistakes.”
Gauley finished with nine points, all coming from behind the arc. Tyce Alt scored twice off of offensive rebounds and finished with 10
“Having (Ethan) Bockelman in foul trouble hurt us, because he's one of our major scorers,” Squiers said. “But he's kind of a streak shooter. When he sits on the bench half the game, he just can't get in that flow. But credit to Hillcrest, they did a great job defensively the second half and took us out of our offense, and I think that was the difference.”
