“He was incredibly efficient with his shot tonight,” said Hillcrest Head Coach Ryan Garvin.  “His shots occurred within the continuity of the offense and, in many ways, the offense came to him and to us, because of our team defense.  I’m very proud of how they willed themselves into their second half performance, together.”

After trailing 31-30 at the half, the Comets held Battle Lake to just 8 second half points.

“Battle Lake led for much of the first half, getting some nice buckets off of some patient ball movement,” stated Garvin.  “We also didn’t keep them off of the offensive glass and that resulted in too many second chance opportunities for us to feel very good about.  In the second half, with the coaches, our boys set a second half defensive goal and it seems they took it to heart.”

The Comet boys did a great job contesting shots and not allowing anything easy.  “Yuchan Ha (10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) and Sam Brumfield did a fantastic job on the perimeter,” noted Garvin.  “Caden Fischer, Zayne Weinrich (2 steals), Matthew Knutson (2 points, 4 rebounds), Luke Christensen and Justin Petersen (4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) all did a great job away from the ball, taking away cutters, especially in the second half.”

Hillcrest (9-1) has recorded 7 straight wins.  They will host Rothsay on Friday night.

Battle Lake (5-7) hosts Hancock next Tuesday.