“I thought our boys came out and played a pretty solid ball game tonight, start to finish,” stated Hillcrest Head Coach Ryan Garvin. “We were down 16-15 at the outset, but LPA was hitting shots at a decent clip despite some fairly solid defense by our boys. I honestly liked our effort early. However, I think our ball pressure from Yuchan Ha and Sam Brumfield and our defense of the first pass by Matthew Knutson and Caden Fischer was really pretty good tonight and I think we were able to wear them down to a certain degree. It was great to have Yuchan back tonight. Coming into this week I knew he wanted to get up and down with us a bit, but I wasn't sure what he'd be able to give us. Even going into tonight, we weren't sure how he would respond, but he seems to be doing alright. The guys are DEFINITELY happy to have him back.”

For LPA, Trent Bjerke led them with 8 points, including a pair of 3’s.

“Noah Brumfield had a great night,” added Coach Garvin. “I thought his poise and patience around the basket took another step today. Super proud of him. He led us in scoring with 21, but also made some great passes in transition and finished with 4 assists to go with 5 steals.  Matthew and Caden again did such a great job for us around the basket tonight. They may not always get the board, but they battle so hard for it and often get a hand in to tip it out to someone else. They had valuable moments tonight. Sam Brumfield made us go again tonight. 18 points, but 9 or 10 rebounds and 4 steals and unselfish play tonight were ALL the difference.” 

Hillcrest will now face Henning at 2:45pm Saturday at ‘The Hive’ in Perham.