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The Hillcrest boys’ basketball team defeated the Hancock Owls, 68-51, in a Little Eight Conference contest at the Student Activities Center at Hillcrest Lutheran Academy on Tuesday night. “Great win in front of our home crowd tonight,” exclaimed Head Coach Ryan Garvin. “Without Ethan Swedberg in the lineup tonight, I was curious about how our boys would respond to the task of guarding Chase Evink and Hudson Versteeg. Versteeg definitely got loose a couple of times (28 points), but I like the adjustments we made in the second half to limit his looks.”
Hillcrest was led by 28 points from Luke Christensen and 17 from Noah Brumfield. Gabe Swedenburg added 8 and Leo Nordick chipped in with 6 for the Comets.
“We opened up the game with such a great defensive effort, forcing some early turnovers and getting into transition, but our looseness with the ball allowed Hancock to stay in it in the first half,” reported Coach Garvin. “I thought we were patient in the half court tonight, which allowed Luke to get into some good situations to score 20 of his 28. I also though Noah’s shot selection was really good for him and for us tonight. He was aggressive, but didn’t force much when it wasn’t there. The guys found him in some great spots.”
Versteeg added 5 rebounds to his team high 28 points for Hancock and the Comets held Evink to just 5 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Brayden Kisgen and Rylan Meierding delivered 4 assists each.
Garvin concluded with, “I really loved the effort from our bench tonight. Leo Nordick (6 points, 4 rebounds) played a really good game for his boys tonight, guarding Evink and allowing Luke to help on the perimeter or play in help position. Gabe Swedenburg (8 points, 6 rebounds), Lincoln Nash (4 points), Noah Bjorndahl and Sean Berge all did a tremendous job for us in the full court. We’re honored, as coaches, by the energy they spend and the effort they give to each other and to the glory of God. It’s a beauty to behold.”
Hillcrest (12-2, 9-0 LEC) will host Brandon-Evansville on Friday.
Hancock (9-6, 6-3 LEC) travels to Morris for a non-conference game on Saturday.
The varsity performance was challenged by an exciting JV finish on Tuesday night. The Comet JV boys were down 7 with about a minute left in regulation, when Kian Stender and Griffin Haus hit three-pointers to bring them back to within 3 (after Hancock had also scored on a layup). In the final 9 seconds, Zane Holmquist fired up a deep 3 from the wing off of a kick-back pass from Kian Stender that banked off the backboard and rolled around the rim and went in as regulation time expired. Hancock and Hillcrest traded buckets to force a second overtime. In the second overtime, Frankie Renner had 5 straight points and Zane Holmquist capped it off with a steal and layup to complete the double-OT, come-from-behind victory.