“We ran into a buzz saw tonight, they shot the ball very well and we did not,” said Underwood Head Coach Brian Hovland.  “Anytime we shoot 32 more shots than a team we should win handily.  We need to do a better job of getting our best look on offense.”

Josey Bugbee led Underwood with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 assists.  Liz Lukken added 11 points and Brooke Hovland had 11 points and 8 steals.

“We struggled against their defensive pressure in the first half and we were sloppy with the ball,” commented Hillcrest Head Coach Hannah Clark. “We talked about it, made some adjustments at halftime and the girls played a much improved second half.  I thought we rebounded well tonight. Regan Wiertzema had a great night on the boards pulling down 13 and our guards did a nice job crashing the o boards, giving us multiple scoring opportunities.”

As a team the Comets shot really well, 55% (19/34) on the night. Madi Ballweg led them with 14 points and 8 boards, with 12 of her points coming in the second half. Ella Knutson added 12 points and 8 rebounds. “Ella did a nice job attacking the back of the zone and was able to get to the rim,” noted Coach Clark.

Underwood (12-3) will host Battle Lake on Monday, Park Christian on Thursday and Ashby on Friday to close out their regular season schedule.

Hillcrest (4-12) has a pair of road games next week, playing at Rothsay on Monday and at Battle Lake on Friday.