The Vikings led 32-29 at the half and the game was tied at 62-62 at the end of regulation.  The score after the first overtime session was 68-68.

“It was a gutty win for our boys tonight,” said Hillcrest Head Coach Ryan Garvin.  “We started the night well, getting buckets in 7 of our first 10 trips.  In our next 10 possessions we settled for 3’s without much ball movement, we got full of ourselves it seems.  We cut their end-of-the-first-half lead to 3 by getting some timely stops.  The second half we shared the ball much better and finished on the boards a bit better.”

After Noah Brumfield fouled out with 4 or 5 minutes to go, and Yuchan Ha within the last couple of minutes, the Comets saw some other players step up and play some huge minutes.

“Matthew Knutson’s stat line probably won’t jump out and grab anyone, but his defense at the end was so admirable,” said Coach Garvin.  “Luke Christensen played some huge minutes at the end of this one coming down with a couple of key boards and a nice post finish.  Caden Fischer hit a huge corner three at the end.  Guys just played well together down the stretch and you just gotta love seeing that happen.”

Sam Brumfield (27 points, 6 steals, 5 assists) hit the go-ahead layup with 8 seconds left in the second overtime.  Noah Brumfield finished with 8 points and 9 boards, Caden Fischer had 13, 11 in the second half and Yuchan Ha was also in double digits with 10 points.

Leaders for Pelican Rapids were Timmy Guler with 19, Hunter Williams with 16, Ian Fahje with 16 and Peyton Blakeway with 12.  Brayden Ecker contributed 9 points for the visitors.

“It was a fun game to be a part of tonight in the Hillcrest gym,” said Pelican Rapids Head Coach John Gullingsrud.  “You always wish you could get one more stop or make one more play offensively to come out on top in a game like this, but we are still super proud of our kids and the effort they played with tonight. Guler made a shot to send the game to overtime and Fahje hit a three to send it to double overtime, so our guys made some big shots when we needed them. We just came up a little short tonight against a good Comets team.”

Hillcrest (2-0) will play at Ashby on Saturday night.

Pelican Rapids (3-2) will host DGF in a Heart O’ Lakes Conference contest on Tuesday night.