By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls’ basketball team made a bid to upset undefeated Fulda before falling by five points in a Red Rock Conference clash played in Fulda Thursday.
Fulda, the state’s fifth-ranked Class A team, found itself in a battle when the Patriots climbed to within two points of tying the score with less than one minute left to play.
The Patriots had possession of the ball while going for a potential game-tying basket, but an H-BC turnover followed by three free throws from Fulda’s Erin Oakland in the final 12 seconds locked up a 43-38 win for the 6-0 Raiders.
"It was a close game the entire way," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "We were down by two and had the ball with less than one minute left to play, and Erin (Boeve, H-BC’s junior forward) was driving to the basket and dribbled the ball off a Fulda player’s foot. The official ruled the ball went out of bounds on Erin. Then we had to foul, and they made their free throws."
The Patriots did make the Raiders work hard to pull out a win.
H-BC led 15-12 after eight minutes of play before the Raiders used a 13-9 scoring cushion in the second quarter to gain a 25-24 lead by halftime.
The Raiders extended their lead to four points (36-32) in the third quarter before withstanding H-BC’s late challenge to win by five.
Boeve recorded a double-double for the Patriots by scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Cassi Tilstra recorded 11 assists for H-BC.
The 5-4 Patriots host Southwest Star Concept Jan. 2.
Box score
B.Rozeboom 4 0 0-0 8, Feucht 1 0 0-0 2, Tilstra 4 0 0-0 8, S.Rozeboom 3 0 0-0 6, Boeve 5 0 2-4 12, Mulder 1 0 0-0 2.
Team statistics
H-BC: 18 of 56 field goals (32 percent), two of six free throws (33 percent), 31 rebounds, seven turnovers.
Fulda: 14 of 39 field goals (36 percent), 11 of 18 free throws (61 percent), 37 rebounds, 15 turnovers.