Basketball Recap: Hillcrest Falls Despite Big Games from Gage Blakeslee and Ian Dunnells

Hillcrest was the 73-59 winner over Blackfoot when they last played one another back in February of 2024, but their luck changed this time around. The Hillcrest Knights fell just short of the Blackfoot Broncos by a score of 52-50 on Tuesday.

Despite the defeat, Hillcrest had strong showings from Ian Dunnells, who went 5 of 7 on his way to 11 points, and Gage Blakeslee, who went 5 for 12 en route to 13 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Titan Larsen, who posted ten points.

Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Blackfoot to victory, but perhaps none more so than Austin Arave, who had 19 points along with five rebounds and five steals. The dominant performance gave Arave a new career-high in steals. Kasen Sorensen was another key player, going 7 of 10 on his way to 14 points and seven boards.

Hillcrest's loss dropped their record down to 6-4. As for Blackfoot, the victory got them back to even at 4-4.

Hillcrest wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next matchup, an 83-51 win against Idaho Falls on the 9th. As for Blackfoot, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 60-49 victory against Bonneville on the 9th.