Hills-Beaver Creek junior Travis Helgeson (43) scored 15 points during Saturday’s 62-42 win over Fulda in the South Section 3A Boys’ Basketball Tournament in Worthington.
An extended run by Hills-Beaver Creek Saturday in Worthington sent the Patriots to the semifinal round of the South Section 3A Boys’ Basketball Tournament.
The second-seeded Patriots matched baskets with No. 7 Fulda when the teams battled to a draw at eight during opening minutes of Saturday’s quarterfinal-round clash.
H-BC appeared to be in trouble when the Raiders scored eight consecutive points to open a 16-8 cushion at the 10:56 mark of the opening half, but the Patriots didn’t panic.
Instead, H-BC put together a 22-0 run to open a 30-16 advantage and never trailed the rest of the way during a game the Patriots won by a 62-42 margin.
The win was the 15th straight victory for the 24-3 Patriots, and it sends H-BC to tonight’s tournament semifinals at 7:30 p.m. in Worthington.
H-BC takes on No. 3 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, a team that edged the Patriots 47-43 in Tyler Jan. 4.
H-BC’s stout defense helped the Patriots overcome the challenge Fulda offered during the first half of Saturday’s quarterfinal-round game.
After the Raiders moved in front 16-8 at the 10:56 mark of the opening half, the Patriots blanked Fulda over the next 10:29.
While the Raiders were being handcuffed, the Patriots reeled off 22 consecutive points and led 30-16 when junior Travis Helgeson turned an offensive rebound into a field goal with 1:36 left to play in the first half.
Fulda snapped its scoring drought with a field goal with 27 seconds remaining before hitting a three-point shot with two seconds left to make it a 30-21 game at the intermission.
The Raiders continued to play well early in the second half.
Fulda scored the first eight points of the second stanza to trail 30-29 at the 15:25 mark.
The Raiders still trailed by one (33-32) with 14:47 remaining, but they couldn’t regain the lead.
Andrew Scholten, who pumped in a team-high 22 points for the Patriots, capped a 12-2 run with a field goal that left H-BC sporting a 45-34 advantage with 8:15 left to play.
Fulda trimmed the difference to seven points (47-40) with 7:13 remaining, but H-BC outscored the Raiders 15-2 the rest of the game to prevail by 20 points.
Along with leading the Patriots in scoring, Scholten secured five rebounds and drew two charging fouls.
Helgeson chipped in 15 points and five rebounds, while Cory Tilstra added 11 points and three assists.
Caleb Ellingson (five assists), Colton Bass (three steals), Jordan Larson (three assists) and Karic Wiertzema (three assists) made contributions to the winning effort.
