Basketball Recap: Hillside Comes Up Short

Hillside was the 71-50 winner over Southern School of Energy and Sustainability when they last played one another back in January, but their luck changed this time around. The Hillside Hornets fell to the Southern School of Energy and Sustainability Spartans 64-59. While losing is never fun, the Hornets can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 427th, while the Spartans are ranked 102nd).

When it comes to explaining why Hillside lost on Saturday, don't look at Mckenzy Green. Despite the final result, she went 5 of 10 on her way to 20 points along with eight rebounds and five assists. The matchup was Green's third in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kynnedy Roberts, who went 6 of 13 en route to 15 points.

Even though they lost, Hillside smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in seven consecutive contests dating back to last season.

Southern School of Energy and Sustainability's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ashlyn Hudson led the charge by dropping a double-double on 17 points and 16 rebounds. Hudson is also on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed two or more in the last 14 games she's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Aliyah Herndon, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and ten boards.

Hillside's loss dropped their record down to 1-5. As for Southern School of Energy and Sustainability, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 4-1.

Hillside will have a little extra prep time after the defeat as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on Deep Creek at 1:30 p.m. on December 26th. Hillside has been getting the ball to fall more lately as they've increased their point totals each of their last three games. As for Southern School of Energy and Sustainability, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 55-40 win against Carrboro on the 20th.