Hillman's 'miracle'
Seth Neely of Genesis Prep shoots a 3 while defended by Talon Twoteeth of Lakeside. Neely finished with 15 points.
LOREN BENOIT/Press photos Genesis Prep’s Jonny Hillman is helped back to the bench after suffering a leg injury in the third quarter of Friday night’s 1A Division II District 1 championship game against Lakeside. Hillman returned to the game in the fourth quarter.
Lakeside’s Kenyon SpottedhHorse goes for the layup in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s 1A Division II District 1 championship game against Genesis Prep at The Courts in Post Falls. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Lakeside’s Emmitt White shoots a three in Friday night’s game against Genesis Prep in the 1A Division II District 1 championship. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Jacob Schultz of Genesis Prep and Kenyon Spottedhorse of Lakeside fight for a rebound during Friday night’s 1A Division II District 1 championship game at The Courts in Post Falls. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
From left, Eli Gonzales, Jakob Peterson and Simeon Elonen celebrate a three point score during Friday night’s 1A Division II District 1 championship game against Lakeside at The Courts in Post Falls. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Kon Ajang of Genesis Prep dunks the ball against Lakeside in Friday night’s 1A Division II District 1 championship game at The Courts in Post Falls. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Scott Mwinuka of Genesis Prep goes for the layup while defended by Lakeside’s Talon Twoteeth in Friday night’s 1A Division II District 1 championship game at The Courts in Post Falls. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Lakeside’s Kenyon Spottedhorse shoots a deep two while defended by Genesis Prep’s Jacob Schultz in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s 1A Division II District 1 championship game against Genesis Prep at The Courts in Post Falls. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
Genesis Prep players and staff pose with the 1A Division II District 1 championship trophy, and Buzz Lightyear, after defeating Lakeside 60-42 at The Courts. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
POST FALLS — Jonny Hillman strode out to midcourt after the game to accept his award for Most Valuable Player of the North Star League — steps that wouldn’t have seemed possible roughly a half-hour earlier.
A hush fell over the crowd early in the third quarter when Hillman, Genesis Prep’s senior star guard, had his right knee buckle on a steal attempt near midcourt of Friday’s 1A Division II boys basketball championship game against the Lakeside Knights at The Courts at Real Life Ministries.
Hillman was on his back in obvious pain while being attended to for several minutes, then put no weight on his right leg as he was helped into the locker room.
But something happened behind the door to the Genesis Prep locker room, and a few minutes later, Hillman jogged back onto the court, seemingly none the worse for wear, and entered the game midway through the fourth quarter, and was on the floor until the waning seconds.
Regardless, the Jaguars faithful heaved a collective sigh of relief after Genesis Prep clinched its fourth straight district title with a 60-42 victory over the Knights.
“I was going for the ball and planted, and it just popped,” Hillman said. “I assumed it was my ACL, and I couldn’t move it. They got me back there (in the locker room) and dad (David Hillman, a physical therapist at River City Physical Therapy in Post Falls) was working on it. It was loose. Honestly, we prayed for me, my dad pulled it, it made a huge noise, and then I felt no pain.
“It went from a torn ACL to nothing.”
David Hillman ultimately described it as a dislocated tibia. He put his son through some movement and jumping tests, and declared him good to go.
“I came on the floor to see him and he said, ‘Dad, it’s out,’” David Hillman said. “I thought he tore the meniscus, or tore the ACL. We went back in the (locker) room, tried testing it, and he was in serious pain. He can’t stand up, he can’t straighten it, he’s screaming. So my other son (Zach) said, ‘You need to pray over him.’ So we prayed over him together as a family and the coach (assistant coach Scott Turner) in there, and I set his leg down, and turned it slightly, and it ‘klunked’ back in, and all the pain was gone. God did a miracle.”
Genesis Prep (15-8) advanced to state next week at Caldwell High. The Jaguars, two-time defending state champions, open Thursday at 5:15 p.m. PST vs. the winner of a play-in game today between Deary (10-10) and Salmon River (19-5).
But all that was up in the air with Hillman lying on the court with 5:47 left in the third quarter and Genesis Prep holding onto a 38-30 lead.
“I didn’t know what to think,” said Genesis Prep coach Marsell Colbert, who joined Hillman in the locker room for a few minutes, but returned to the bench before David Hillman popped his son’s leg back into place. “I thought it was his ACL. Man, I don’t even know how to explain that. When they couldn’t move it, when he couldn’t straighten it, I thought it was the ACL ... thank God. It was one of those things — if you don’t believe, it’ll make you believe.”
Hillman finished with 20 points and six steals for Genesis Prep. Junior Seth Neely scored eight of his 15 points in the first half, and also had nine rebounds and five steals.
“Seth played huge for us tonight,” Colbert said. “He defended well, he got key deflections, he kept some possesions alive for us, and he finished off possessions at the other end of the floor.”
The 6-foot-9 Kon Ajang added nine points, 10 rebounds, eight blocked shots, five assists and three steals. And Scott Mwinuka added seven points off the bench.
Sophomore Day Day Higgins led Lakeside (14-8)with 10 points. Sophomore Jayson Hall added eight points and eight rebounds for the Knights, which played a 1-3-1 zone and went toe-to-toe with the Jaguars for most of the game.
But playing just six players eventually took its toll on Lakeside, against Genesis Prep’s press and pressure half-court defense. The Knights made 7 of their 15 shots (including 2 of 5 3-pointers) in the first quarter, but made just 9 of 42 (including 2 of 16 3s) the rest of the way.
Talon Twoteeth scored on the drive to pull Lakeside within 38-32, but the Knights scored just 10 points over the final 13-plus minutes of the game.
“I think it caught up to them a little bit,” Lakeside coach James Twoteeth said. “We couldn’t score after that; I don’t know what happened. But I’m proud of them. They’re young; most of them are sophomores. Hopefully we’ll come back stronger next year.”
“Hat’s off to them, man,” Colbert said of Lakeside. “They played a great game. They had a great game plan, and those kids competed. We had to work for everything that we got.”
Lakeside 16 12 9 5 — 42
Genesis Prep 19 16 11 14 — 60
LAKESIDE — White 3, J. Abuan 3, Higgins 10, Hall 8, Twoteeth 8, SpottedHorse 6, S. Abuan 4.
GENESIS PREP — Ajang 9, Peterson 0, Elonen 0, Mwinuka 7, Schultz 5, Neely 15, Hillman 20, Gonzales 0, Bohannan 4.
ALL-NORTH STAR LEAGUE
GENESIS PREP — Jonny Hillman, sr. (MVP); Kon Ajang, sr.; Jacob Schultz, sr. WALLACE — Zack Welch, sr.; Erik Brackebusch, sr. LAKESIDE — Kenyon SpottedHorse, so.; Day Day Higgins, so.; Jayson Hall, so.; Talon Twoteeth, jr. KOOTENAI — Gage Maitland, sr.; Triston Usdrowski, sr. CLARK FORK — Cameron Garcia, so.