Hills-Beaver Creek guard Brittney Rozeboom delivers a pass in traffic during a recent girls' basketball game in Hills.By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek girls’ basketball team captured the championship trophy of the Albert Lea Holiday Tournament by defeating Minneapolis South 58-48 during Saturday’s title game in Albert Lea.An outstanding defensive performance by the Patriots helped them overcome a shooting slump early in the contest, and that proved to be a deciding factor in the game.The Patriots could have fallen into a deep hole after missing all 14 of their field-goal attempts in the first quarter of play, but they limited the Tigers to four points in the same period and trailed 4-2 at quarter’s end.The Patriots found their shooting touch while making 10 of 19 shots in the second quarter and went on to beat MS by 10 points at game’s end."We were zero of 14 from the floor in the first quarter," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "We were getting good looks and taking good shots, but they wouldn’t go down for us. Thankfully, we defended them well in the first quarter and held them to four points."Senior Erin Boeve was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player along with earning a spot on the all-tournament team. She provided some offensive spark when she scored 14 of her team-high 29 points when the Patriots outscored the Tigers 31-10 in the second quarter to gain a 33-14 halftime lead.Kerri Fransman, who scored 13 points for H-BC, nailed three three-point shots during the second-quarter uprising.MS did trim the difference to six points (39-33) by the end of the third quarter, but the Tigers were unable to close the gap in the fourth quarter as H-BC outscored them 19-15 in the final eight minutes to win by 10.Brittney Rozeboom, who also earned a spot on the all-tournament team, had seven rebounds and four assists in the championship game. Boeve and Amanda Olson added 12 and seven rebounds to the winning cause. Melinda Sandstede charted four assists.The 5-4 Patriots host Red Rock Central Tuesday.Box scoreRozeboom 2 0 1-3 5, Fransman 1 3 2-2 13, Bush 0 1 2-6 5, Sandstede 0 0 2-2 2, Boeve 8 0 13-17 29, Olson 0 0 4-4 4, Mulder 0 0 0-0 0.Team statisticsH-BC: 15 of 46 field goals (33 percent), 24 of 33 field goals (73 percent), 36 rebounds, 19 turnovers.MS: 16 of 52 field goals (31 percent), 11 of 19 free throws (58 percent), 29 rebounds, 17 turnovers.
