The battle for Montmorency County was won by the Hillman Tigers varsity boys’ basketball team on Friday as they improved to 11-1 overall and 6-0 in the North Star League with a 53-28 win over Atlanta.

Hillman ended the first quarter ahead of Atlanta with a score of 18-12. Hillman’s defense prevented Atlanta from scoring in the second and third quarters, ending the second quarter with a score of 29-12 and the third quarter with a score of 41-12.

Head Coach Eric Muszynski said that despite the win, he doesn’t believe his players played up to their usual standards on Friday.

“It may sound petty but despite holding Atlanta scoreless in the second and third quarter we definitely didn’t play the Hillman brand of basketball today,” Muszynski told The News in an email. “We had a lot of walking down the floor, not getting back on ‘D,’ and we simply just don’t play that way in this program. It’s a long season but we are heading into the final stretch and it’s my job to keep the guys sharp!”

Hillman was led by Junior Eddie Prue scoring 19 points and adding nine rebounds. Senior Guard Aedan Tucker contributed 15 points, five rebounds, and six steals, while Senior Forward Evan Crane scored 12 points and eight rebounds.

Leading scorer for Atlanta was Quintin Miles with seven points and Brent Culham with six points.

The Tigers return to action on Tuesday as they travel to Posen.