Hills-Beaver Creek sophomore Kale Wiertzema prepares to shoot the ball during Friday’s boys’ basketball game against Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster in Hills. Wiertzema scored 11 first-half points to help the Patriots record their first victory of the season.
By John Rittenhouse
A fast start and a strong finish carried the Hills-Beaver Creek boys’ basketball team to its first victory of the season Friday in Hills.
Entertaining Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster for a non-conference clash, the young Patriots turned in a positive performance.
Their fast start allowed the Patriots to take a lead they would never relinquish, and the strong finish featured H-BC outscoring the Raiders 41-21 in the second half to win by 29 points.
H-BC raced to a 7-0 lead to start the game and led 14-2 with 4:21 remaining in the first quarter.
Kale Wiertzema led the charge by scoring five of his 11 first-half points in the first three minutes of the tilt.
SV-RL-B answered H-BC’s early run by scoring the final eight points of the first period to trail 14-10 at period’s end.
The Patriots extended their lead to eight points three different times in the first three minutes of the second quarter.
H-BC led by 10 points (27-17) with 1:30 remaining in the first half and sported a 31-19 lead when Clint Roozenboom connected for a field goal with 27 seconds left before the Raiders scored three points to trail 31-22 at the intermission.
The Patriots iced the contest in the third quarter, when they went on a 23-8 run to open a 54-30 advantage.
Tyson Metzger, who had a double-double for H-BC with 16 points and 13 rebounds, led the way in the third quarter by netting eight points.
H-BC padded the final margin of victory to 18 points by outscoring SV-RL-B 18-13 in the fourth quarter.
Jesse Leuthold scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half for H-BC, which led by as many as 31 points in the fourth quarter.
Wiertzema added seven assists and six rebounds to the cause, while Tyler Bush chipped in six rebounds, six steals and six assists. Trey Van Wyhe contributed five rebounds and three steals to the winning cause.
A 42-20 rebounding cushion and better shooting from the floor (47-37 percent) played key roles in H-BC’s win.
Box score
Bush 3 0 2-5 8, Elbers 0 0 0-0 0, Wysong 0 0 2-2 2, Jackson 0 0 0-0 0, Roozenboom 3 0 3-6 9, Broesder 1 0 2-4 4, Wiertzema 3 1 2-2 11, Metzger 4 1 5-8 16, Leuthold 6 0 2-2 14, Van Wyhe 4 0 0-2 8, Spykerboer 0 0 0-0 0.
Team statistics
H-BC: 26 of 55 field goals (47 percent), 18 of 31 free throws (58 percent), 42 rebounds, 21 turnovers.
SV-RL-B: 18 of 49 field goals (37 percent), five of nine free throws (56 percent), 20 rebounds, 21 turnovers.