The call to missions has been forming in the hallways of Hillcrest for generations of students. And as students gather for conversations like the recent lunch with Dave Narvesen, it is clear that the tradition continues.

As a team, Hillcrest shot 21-of-57 from the field (36%), including 12-of-22 on two-point attempts (54%) while converting 11-of-17 free throws (64%). The Comets also knocked down nine three-pointers, providing a balanced scoring attack that kept the Tigers from mounting a late comeback.

Hillcrest’s House System is helping students grow in community, character, and connection. One simple bin at the gym door is becoming a powerful lesson: some moments are too important to scroll through.

From the opening tip, Hillcrest controlled every statistical category. The Comets built a commanding 40–19 halftime lead and matched that output with another 40-point half after the break.

Flags lined the doors. Countries were represented in color and creativity. Students hurried past in team hues, whispering about chapters they had finished the night before and debating which book deserved to advance. In classrooms, brackets were filling up. Medals were being earned. And quietly, steadily, something powerful was happening: children were falling in love with good books.

The Comets closed the regular season with a strong 77–61 road win over Norman County East/UH, and they did it without starter Sean Berge and sixth man spark Zane Holmquist

“Dads at the Doors” is one expression of a broader commitment at Hillcrest to partnership with families. We believe children flourish when school and home are aligned. When fathers show up physically, it sends a powerful message

As the playoffs approach, the Lady Comets are showing what makes them dangerous: efficient offense, balanced scoring, and a defense that competes on every trip down the floor. Just as important, they are playing for one another, and that unity is becoming one of their greatest strengths.

As the postseason approaches, these two weeks may ultimately be remembered as the stretch that prepared the Comets for playoff basketball. The numbers show a team that has tightened execution, clarified roles, formed resolve to withstand adversity, and built trust under pressure, the profile of a group dialing things in at the right time.

This week, Hillcrest didn’t simply bounce back from a loss; they adjusted. Defensive focus sharpened. Offensive patience increased. Efficiency followed. The Comets turned a close defeat into a week of clarity, and if the trajectory holds, the stats suggest this team is still climbing.

Interior toughness led Hillcrest to the win, and Ella Knutson was a highlight, posting a powerful double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds, while also adding five assists to keep the offense flowing.

Moments like the National Honor Society induction matter. They celebrate diligence, leadership, service, and scholarship, but they also affirm that these virtues are meant to be lived out in love. Academic excellence becomes a means of equipping students for lives of eternal significance, where knowledge is guided by wisdom and achievement is anchored in gratitude and humility before God.

When children are truly known by their parents, their teachers, and their school, they don’t just learn more effectively. They live more faithfully.

For Coach Hannah Clark, win No. 100 arrives not as a single achievement but as a reflection of sustained culture. The numbers tell the story: disciplined defense, focused ball movement, unselfish offense, and players empowered to contribute in multiple ways. On a night that celebrated a milestone, the Comets delivered a performance that captured exactly why that milestone matters.

The Hillcrest Comets put together their most complete performance of the season Tuesday night, overwhelming Brandon-Evansville 93–55 behind suffocating defense and disciplined rotations, a connected team effort on both ends of the floor.

Each month at Hillcrest, students are invited into something deeper than a lesson or a theme. Through a unified and intentional virtue program, the Lower School is being shaped in how students think, respond, forgive, and love. This January, that focus is Grace: loving others despite their faults.

Walking through the fourth-grade display yesterday felt less like stepping into a classroom and more like entering another century. Towers rose from tables, stone walls wrapped around courtyards, banners marked kingdoms, and drawbridges hinted at danger just beyond the gates in their dioramas. Parents and members of the Hillcrest community gathered not simply to admire displays of medieval castles, but to witness learning that had taken root and shaped imagination and understanding, and strengthened character.

An article published last year in The Harvard Crimson came across my desk recently. It highlighted how Harvard had to introduce a remedial math course for their students.

Hillcrest set the tone early, jumping out to a commanding 43–9 lead at halftime with relentless defensive pressure and crisp ball movement. The Comets never let up, holding Border West to just 24 points for the game while continuing to share the scoring load and push the pace on both ends of the floor.

There are moments in a student’s life when faith moves from something heard to something seen, from abstraction to encounter. Hillcrest students experienced one of those moments in chapel as Pastor Dave Foss and Michele Foss led the community through their recent journey to Israel, inviting students to step into the places where Scripture unfolded in real time, among real people, under real skies.