By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek boys’ basketball team gave their home fans a thrill Tuesday night in Hills.
Playing four-time defending state champion Southwest Christian in a Red Rock Conference clash, the Patriots stunned the Eagles by saddling them with a 62-57 setback.
Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema couldn’t recall the last time one of his H-BC teams beat SWC, but he was proud of the way his young Patriots took care of business Tuesday.
"The kids played really well," he said.
The Patriots led 21-20 at the end of the first quarter before increasing the difference to four points (39-35) by halftime with an 18-15 scoring advantage in the second quarter.
With Trey Van Wyhe and Kale Wiertzema netting four points each to lead the way, H-BC outscored the Eagles 11-6 in the third quarter to take a 50-41 advantage into the final stanza.
SWC trimmed the difference to three points at one stage of the fourth quarter, but the Patriots met the challenge by fighting back to win by five points.
Van Wyhe led the Patriots with 18 points and nine rebounds in the game.
Tyson Metzger scored 15 points and latched on to seven rebounds, Wiertzema scored 14 points, passed for eight assists and collected six rebounds, and Tyler Bush added 10 points and six steals to the winning cause.
Turning the ball over seven fewer times (12-19) and outrebounding the Eagles by seven (29-22) were keys to the win for H-BC.
The 3-2 Patriots will take a two-game winning streak into another RRC clash against Murray County Central in Slayton Friday.
Box score
Bush 2 0 6-11 10, Wysong 0 0 0-0 0, Broesder 1 0 0-0 2, Wiertzema 1 3 3-5 14, Metzger 4 1 4-6 15, Leuthold 0 0 3-6 3, Van Wyhe 8 0 2-4 18.
Team statistics
H-BC: 20 of 43 field goals (47 percent), 18 of 32 free throws (56 percent), 12 turnovers, 29 rebounds.
SWC: 23 of 47 field goals (49 percent), five of 10 free throws (50 percent), 19 turnovers, 22 rebounds.