Hills-Beaver Creek senior Lyle DeBoer drives by Lincoln HI's Shawn Leibfried to score two of his 16 points during a 72-63 boys' basketball win for the Patriots in Hills Monday.
By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek boys won back-to-back basketball games for the first time this season while opening the 2002 portion of its schedule.
H-BC posted a 16-point Red Rock Conference win in Edgerton Friday before topping Lincoln HI by nine points in a non-conference game played in Hills Monday.
The 5-5 Patriots host Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster Tuesday.
H-BC 72, LH 63
The Patriots made it two straight victories by toppling the Rebels by nine points in Hills Monday.
The game was a competitive one from beginning to end, but the Patriots used their size advantage to control the boards (37-23), which allowed them to narrowly outscore LH in every quarter.
H-BC raced to a 7-1 lead to start the game before LH rallied to pull within two points (16-14) of the hosts at period's end.
The Rebels gained a pair of one-point leads in the first three minutes of the second quarter. H-BC's Brad Haak converted a three-point play in the final minute of the first half to give the Patriots a 35-29 advantage at the intermission.
After H-BC scored the first two points of the second half, LH rallied to take a pair of two-point advantages in the first five minutes of the third quarter. The Patriots countered with a 9-2 run that was capped by a steal and a layup by Haak late in the period to take a 52-45 lead into the final eight minutes of play.
The Rebels pulled within one point (52-51) of H-BC with a six-point run early in the first quarter, but H-BC countered with a six-point surge of its own and never let LH come any closer than four points of tying the game the rest of the night.
Haak, who had 15 points in the first half, led H-BC with 21 counters. He also had eight rebounds and three steals.
Lyle DeBoer scored 10 points in the second half to finish the game with 16 counters. Matt Buck scored 10 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, blocked four shots and passed for six assists. Darin DeBoer added three assists and 10 points to the cause, while David Top chipped in 12 counters.
Box score
D.DeBoer 1 2 2-2 10, Van Maanen 0 0 1-2 1, Haak 9 0 3-6 21, Leuthold 0 0 1-2 1, L.Deboer 7 0 2-2 16, Van Wyhe 0 0 1-2 1, Top 3 0 6-8 12, Buck 4 0 2-6 10.
Team statistics
H-BC: 26 of 68 field goals (38 percent), 18 of 30 free throws (60 percent), 37 rebounds, 12 turnovers.
LH: 22 of 58 field goals (38 percent), 10 of 15 free throws (67 percent), 23 rebounds, 21 turnovers.
H-BC 72, Edgerton 56
The Patriots snapped a three-game losing streak when they bested the Flying Dutchmen by 16 points in Edgerton Friday.
H-BC coach Wiertzema was concerned about how his charges would respond to playing their first game in two weeks, but the Patriots passed the test by outscoring Edgerton 34-25 in the second and third quarters to put the game away.
"You really don't know how you will play after a long break. Our kids played well. We shot the ball really well except for at the free-throw line, and we were the most aggressive team throughout the game," he said.
H-BC sported 18-12 and 35-25 leads at the first two quarter breaks before going on a 17-12 run in the third quarter to make it a 15-point (52-37) difference. A 20-19 scoring edge in the fourth quarter gave the Patriots a 16-point win.
Lyle DeBoer, who had five rebounds and four assists for H-BC, netted 16 of his team-high 21 points in the second half. Matt Buck had 11 rebounds and 15 points, nine of which came in the second half. David Top had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Patriots, and Brad Haak added 11 points and seven rebounds. Darin DeBoer chipped in five rebounds.
Box score
D.Deboer 1 1 4-6 9, Van Maanen 1 0 0-0 2, Haak 3 0 5-8 11, L.Deboer 7 2 1-4 21, Van Wyhe 1 0 2-2 4, Top 2 1 3-4 10, Buck 6 0 3-10 15.
Team statistics
H-BC: 25 of 48 field goals (52 percent), 18 of 34 free throws (53 percent), 38 rebounds, 10 turnovers.
Edgerton: 20 of 56 field goals (36 percent), seven of 11 free throws (64 percent), 20 rebounds, 14 turnovers.