The Hillcrest boys' basketball team survived a tough test on its home court Friday night, pulling away from Northridge in the final minutes of a back-and-forth battle to win 41-37.

Knotted at 30 apiece with 4:30 to go, Hillcrest had the ball but couldn't find an open look because of Northridge's smothering defense.

That's when Hillcrest senior Austin Jackson made a big-time offensive play, dribbling through traffic from the top of the key to the hoop for a layup. Fouled on the play, Jackson sank his free throw, giving his team a 33-30 advantage at a crucial moment.

"That was huge," said Hillcrest coach Brad Tingey. "That just gave us that confidence boost."

Even though Jackson's layup was the Huskies' final field goal of the night, they made eight free throws in the final four minutes and hung on for the win.

The Knights made the game interesting at the end when Northridge's Tanner Hendry nailed a three-pointer with seven seconds left, cutting a six-point edge down to three.

Hoping to get the ball back, the Knights committed a quick foul on Hillcrest's Jeremy Ulrich. The senior stepped up to the line and put the game out of reach, making one out of two free throws to put the Huskies up by four.

The there's-no-I-in-team cliché rang true for Hillcrest, which won the game despite having zero players in double figures. Eight scorers chipped in points, with Jackson leading the way with nine. Curtis Blackmore added seven points while Danny Thompson and Kyle Maughan each had six.

For Tingey, who preaches unselfishness, it was an encouraging way to win.

"We're going to play together and work on helping our teammates be successful, and we'll see how far that takes us," he said.

Six-foot-five Northridge senior Tyce Bockwoldt led all scorers with 12 points while teammate Hendry helped out with seven points. Hillcrest improved to 3-4 while Northridge dropped to 3-3.

ndicou@sltrib.com