Arguably no event in the country generates buzz like the John Wall Holiday Invitational. Folks have been buzzing about the Hillcrest/Combine matchup for weeks, even months, prior to their showdown. Although Combine Academy has beaten Oak Hill and proven to be among the top teams in North Carolina, many people were already marking this as a win for Hillcrest. However, that was simply not the case, as Combine came out with something to prove in the first half behind the play of Jalen Hood-Schifino and Josh Rubio. Hillcrest entered halftime with a 24-29 lead over Combine.
Hillcrest was incredibly balanced in their offensive approach throughout the entire game, distributing the scoring pretty evenly across their roster and showing a willingness to work together as much as possible. However, Combine simply performs better than any on-paper estimation could assume. They defend so hard and embrace their identity as well as any program in the area, really forcing opponents to play well if they have any hope of winning. It went down to the wire and Combine definitely made Hillcrest sweat, but it ended up being a 62-58 contest in favor of Hillcrest.
It was truly neck-and-neck the entire time and although Combine never led, they were in a position to win for most of the game. Hillcrest was led by UNC-commit Puff Johnson and Michael Foster, both finishing with 17 points. Foster also added 12 rebounds to his stat line and was arguably the toughest matchup for Combine. Meanwhile, Hood-Schifino stood out as a leader and Robert Dillingham emerged in the second half to finish with 18 points.