The Pleasant Grove Vikings entered their tilt with the Hillcrest Huskies with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. Pleasant Grove wrapped up 2023 with a 69-52 victory over Hillcrest. Given Pleasant Grove's advantage in MaxPreps' Utah basketball rankings (they are ranked 20th, while Hillcrest is ranked 61st), the result on Thursday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Despite the loss, Hillcrest saw an underclassman step up: Ezra Bell scored 12 points along with five rebounds and three steals. Those three steals set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Anton Mahler, who scored nine points.
Pleasant Grove's win bumped their record up to 8-1. As for Hillcrest, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 5-5.
Pleasant Grove is on the road again on Thursday and play against Brighton at 7:00 p.m. on December 28, 2023. Brighton is strutting with some offensive muscle, as they've averaged 63.4 points per game. Hillcrest won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Mountain View at 1:00 p.m. on December 29, 2023. Mountain View is strutting with some offensive muscle, as they've averaged 60.7 points per game.
