By John Rittenhouse
Football teammates this fall turned into basketball rivals Thursday night in Hills.
Less than three weeks after playing their final football game during a 10-1 season, athletes from Hills-Beaver Creek and Ellsworth high schools renewed their friendly rivalry on the hard court.
The way things turned out, H-BC's boys gained bragging rights for the first part of the regular season after topping the visiting Panthers 77-63.
Ellsworth will have a chance to avenge the loss when they host H-BC in the regular season finale Feb. 25.
Thursday's game, which was the season opener for both teams, featured good and bad moments for both teams. In the end, H-BC outscored the Panthers 41-31 in the second half to win by a comfortable 14-point margin.
"We straightened things out at halftime," said Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema. "They were playing a box-and-one defense that gave us some trouble in the first half. We were a little more patient and found the open spots against their zone in the second half."
H-BC turned a 36-32 halftime lead into a 53-44 advantage by outscoring EHS 17-12 in the third period.
Patriot Brad Haak, who recorded a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, netted nine of his points in the third period.
With Matt Buck scoring nine of his 20 points and David Top adding seven of his 12 counters, H-BC outscored the Panthers 24-19 in the fourth quarter to win by 14.
Both teams had their moments in the first half.
H-BC scored the first 14 points of the game and led 18-9 at the end of the first quarter, but EllsworthÕs Curt Schilling scored 14 of his game-high 30 points during the second quarter to help the Panthers climb to within two points of H-BC before trailing by four points at the intermission.
Lyle DeBoer matched Buck's 20-point, four-assist effort for H-BC. Justin Van Maanen had five rebounds and three assists for the winners.
Schilling had a double-double for EHS by collecting 10 rebounds to go along with his 30 points. Dylan Kvaale chipped in 11 points for the Panthers.
Box score
Ellsworth
Schilling 6 3 9-13 30, Jenniges 1 0 0-0 2, Jannsen 1 1 0-0 5, Kvaale 1 0 9-10 11, Deutsch 3 0 1-2 7, Brommer 0 2 0-0 6, Herman 1 0 0-0 2.
H-BC
Metzger 0 0 0-0 0, D.DeBoer 2 1 0-3 7, Van Maanen 0 0 0-0 0, Haak 7 0 4-9 18, Leuthold 0 0 0-0 0, L.DeBoer 4 4 0-0 20, Van Wyhe 0 0 0-0 0, Top 5 0 2-4 12, Buck 6 1 5-11 20.
Team statistics
Ellsworth: 19 of 56 field goals (34 percent), 19 of 25 free throws (76 percent), 27 rebounds, 14 turnovers.
H-BC: 30 of 63 field goals (48 percent), 11 of 27 free throws (41 percent), 35 rebounds, 13 turnovers.