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With the Hillcrest girls’ basketball team leading 6-3 early in the game, Breckenridge went on a 21-0 run to take a 24-6 lead. After a 10 point Comet run cut the lead to 24-16, the Cowgirls pushed the lead to a dozen, 29-27, at halftime. They also scored the first 7 points of the second half and led 46-27 with just over 14 minutes to play in the game. Hillcrest was able to cut the lead to three with under two minutes to play, but the Cowgirls held them off for a 67-62 win.
“We dug ourselves into a hole in the first half, but fought back to get within 3 at the end of the game," stated Hillcrest Head Coach Hannah Clark. “The girls played so hard and I’m proud of how they never game up, even after being down 20. They fought to the end of the game and never once played like they doubted their chances of a comeback.”
Johnica Bernotas led Breckenridge with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. She made 13-of-17 free throw attempts on the night. Addison Twidwell registered a double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds), Abby Johnson had 13 points and Sydney Roberts contributed 10.
Leaders for Hillcrest were Maddie Ballweg (24 points, 5 rebounds), Lizzy Olstad (11 points), Ella Knutson (10 points, 5 rebounds), Ruby Peterson (9 points, 7 rebounds) and Madi Foss (8 points, 5 rebounds).
“We are really going to miss our seniors, Maddie B, Madi F, and Lizzy,” said Clark. “They have been such great leaders for this team and have given so much to this program. They’ve all had great careers and I’m so very proud of them! This has been such a fun year and a great group of girls to coach.”
Maddie Ballweg became the record holder for most points in a season with 454, surpassing Mackenzie Foss, and Ella Knutson broke the record for most rebounds in a season with 279, previously held by Dawn (Colbeck) Hanson.
Breckenridge will now face Henning in a Section 6A quarterfinal round game at 2:45pm Saturday in Perham.
Hillcrest ends their season with an overall record of 18-10.