It’s an all-KCII area matchup tonight when Hillcrest Academy and Highland get together for Southeast Iowa Superconference baseball and softball. The Hillcrest softball team was 0-12 a season ago, hitting .158 as a team, led by Sarah Miller who is back for her senior year after hitting .300 as a junior. Esther Hughes also returns after hitting .265 last season. The Ravens had a 7.77 ERA a year ago with Leah Bontrager throwing each inning.
Highland softball was 9-7 last year. The Huskies hit .324 as a team and return eight players from that high powered offense, led by Dani Laughlin and her .600 average as a freshman with 33 hits and eight RBI. The Huskies finished with a 3.53 ERA and return everyone who threw a pitch last season, led by Grace Batcheller and her 63 innings of work with a 7-4 record and 3.52 ERA. These two teams met twice a season ago with Highland sweeping the series by 12-0 and 13-1 scores.
The Winfield-Mt. Union and Highland track teams competed at the Dave Aamodt Relays in Mediapolis on Tuesday night.
The Highland girls placed seventh out of eight teams with 45 points while Danville took home the team title with 138. Sarah Burton had the second best leap in the long jump (16’6.25’’) and Dani Laughlin was fourth in the same event (15’6.25’’). The shuttle hurdle relay team placed second (1:25), Addy Kleopfer fourth in 100m hurdles (19.73), Laughlin fifth in 100m (13.63), and Angelina Roling fifth in 800m (3:19). WMU placed eighth with 37 points. Bradie Buffington bested the whole field in the shot put with a heave of 35’5’’ and she was also fifth in the discus (81’3’’). Keetyn Townsley finished second in the 100m hurdles (18.90) and Morgan Grelk was second in the 400m hurdles (1:20).
Two area squads and only one can move on. That’s the scenario in Wayland tonight when the WACO girls’ basketball team plays host to Highland in a first round class 1A regional.
The Warriors concluded the regular season 7-12, but won two of their final three including a 25-point beatdown of ranked Van Buren. Ellah Kissell has been a catalyst with 13.9 out of their 45 points a game. Morgan Graber adds 8.3 points and Grace Coble brings in 6.6 boards a night. Highland is 2-12 and they last fell to Louisa-Muscatine 62-34 on Tuesday. Dani Laughlin records 14.4 points a game while shooting 34% from the floor. Sarah Burton controls the rebounding department with 7.4. Turnovers have been a bugaboo for both teams with 23 and 25 a game, respectively. This is the first meeting between these two programs in five years.
The Southeast Iowa Superconference Shoot Out is here for area girls teams. The annual event happens at the end of the conference season for both boys and girls squads where teams are paired together based on their finish in the north and south division standings for one contest.
The defacto championship game features the winners of the south division West Burlington and north division champions Winfield-Mt. Union. The Lady Wolves come into the game unbeaten on the year at 16-0 and a perfect 10-0 in the SEISC. The Wolves are ranked No. 9 in the latest poll from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union. In their last game they got by Louisa-Muscatine 44-43 with Farrah Nelson’s 11 point 10 rebound double double. On the season, WMU is led by Bradie Buffington at nine points per game, Nelson’s seven boards per contest, and Kyndal Townsley’s three assists and two steals per night. West Burlington is 17-1 overall, 14-1 in the Superconference. They beat Cardinal on Tuesday 79-38. On
The visitors from Belle Plaine took a 69-56 girls basketball win over the Highland Huskies Monday in Riverside. The Plainswomen started fast, leading 22-12 after the first quarter and held a 38-28 advantage at the half. Out of the locker room Belle Plaine added six more to their lead, with their second 20 point quarter of the night, and were on top 58-42 going to the fourth. Highland was unable to mount a push down the stretch to get back in the game. Despite the loss, Highland went nine of 14 from three point land, pulled down 39 rebounds, and had 18 assists but were derailed by 35 turnovers. Abby Stransky led the Huskies with 23 points, including four threes. Dani Laughlin had 21 points and four three point goals. Highland is now 1-11 on the season.