Mary Jacobson's kindergarten class is the Luverne Elementary School featured class of the week. Pictured are (front row, from left) Savanna Thielbar, Tessa Gyberg, Dalton Javner, Audrey Emery, Matthew Marshall, Trevor Vander Steen, (second row) Tucker Horn, Kira Graber, Kristen Kienholz, Kellen Gerloff, Joey Flores, Zane Hiller, (third row) Zach Hollander, Briana Erickson, Brennan Nelson, Amanda Barnhart, Mackenzie Huls, Caitlin Goldie-Brown (back) Mrs. Kirsten Eisma, Mrs. Jacobson, Mrs. Nyla Sohl. Not pictured are Ross Steensma and Drew Winter. Mrs. Jacobson's kindergartners are excited to have only three consonant sounds and two vowel sounds left to learn. "The children are reading many books all on their own now and are taking classroom books home to read to their parents," Jacobson said. "The children are also doing a great deal of writing on their own." She added that her students are also looking forward to their Easter party.

Photo by Lori Ehde

Fire destroyed the home of Vicki Lenderts Tuesday morning near Beaver Creek. Story inside.

Judy Janelle Bertsch, 62, Corona, Calif., formerly of Hills, died Friday, March 22, 2002, due to complications of diabetes.

The family had a private memorial service on Monday, March 25.

Judy Steen was born to Otis and Alice (Wroe) Steen on May 19, 1939, in Rock County. She graduated from Hills High School in 1957. She attended St. Paul Bible College in St. Paul. She later received her bachelor of arts degree in culinary arts in California.

She married William Bertsch. She retired early from the California School System in 2001 due to health issues from diabetes that required kidney dialysis.

Mrs. Bertsch was a member of the Sons of Norway. Her hobbies included travel, painting and cooking.

Survivors include one son, Timothy "Skip" Scott Bertsch, Grand Terrace, Calif.; two grandsons, Timothy Bertsch and Matthew Bertsch, and special friend, Bob Bell, all of Corona; four brothers, Daniel Steen, Modesto, Calif., David Steen, Otsego, John (Linda) Steen, Kent, Wash., and James (Robin) Steen, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and six sisters, Nancy (William) Erchul, Burnsville, Betsy (Frank) Antinozzi, Rosemary and (Hassan) Steen-Omari, all of Minneapolis, Jan (Ron) Cleys, Portland, Ore., Jo (Wayne) Alink, Windom, and Lora (Dean) Arnott, Owatonna; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Bertsch was preceded in death by her parents.

Chris Spykerboer, 58, Luverne, died Monday, March 25 at the Luverne Community Hospital. Services will be Saturday, March 30 at 10:30 a.m. at the First Baptist Church, Luverne, with Rev. Dale Phelps officiating. Burial will be in River View Cemetery, Rock Rapids. Visitation will be Friday, March 29 from 1 to 6 p.m. with the family present from 4 to 6 p.m. at Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne.

Hills-Beaver Creek-High School junior Dusty Seachris tries to escape the grasp of Windom-Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin's Anthony Elg during a quarterfinal-round match of the Section 3AA Individual Wrestling Tournament at Lac qui Parle Valley High School near Madison Friday. Seachris went 0-2 at 130 pounds at the event, ending his 11-20 season.

By John Rittenhouse
A Hills-Beaver Creek High School student wrapped up his wrestling season at the Section 3AA Individual Tournament at Lac qui Parle Valley High School near Madison Friday and Saturday.

Dusty Seachris, a junior member of the Luverne-H-BC-Ellsworth wrestling squad, went 0-2 at 130 pounds during the two-day event.

Seachris received a tough draw in the quarterfinals, where he had to take on Anthony Elg, representing Windom-Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin.

Elg, the eventual section champion, pinned Seachris 56 seconds into the second period of their match.
Seachris met Worthington's Jared Langseth in the first round of the wrestle backs. Langseth pinned Seachris with five seconds remaining in the first period of their match.

Seachris ended the season with an 11-20 overall record.

Kerry Fink, an H-BC eighth-grader who is another member of the L-H-BC-E team, was one-half pound overweight and couldn't compete in the 112-pound weight class last weekend.

Fink had a 5-17 record this year.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek boys snapped a two-game losing skid by besting Edgerton 50-39 in a Red Rock Conference Western Division tilt played in Hills Friday.

After playing the better part of the prior five games without the services of seniors Matt Buck and Brad Haak, both players returned to the court against the Flying Dutchmen.

Their presence helped the Patriots overcome a sluggish start to best Edgerton by 11 points.

Haak, who had nine rebounds, canned six of nine field goals and led the Patriots in scoring with 18 points during a solid outing. Buck had six rebounds and two points during the game.

H-BC was clinging to a 6-5 lead after eight minutes of play and played great defense while extending the advantage to 11 points by halftime.

The Patriots blanked the Flying Dutchmen during the second period while scoring 11 points to make it a 16-5 game at the intermission.

H-BC outscored Edgerton 19-15 in the third quarter to make it a 35-20 difference heading into the fourth quarter, which Edgerton won by a 19-15 margin.

David Top played a strong game that featured 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Lyle DeBoer pulled down nine rebounds and recorded three steals for the winners, while Darin DeBoer contributed four steals to the cause.

Box score
Metzger 0 0 3-4 3, D.Deboer 0 0 6-6 6, Roozenboom 0 0 0-0 0, Haak 6 0 6-12 18, Leuthold 0 0 1-2 1, L.DeBoer 1 1 0-2 5, Van Wyhe 1 0 0-0 2, Top 4 0 5-7 13, Buck 1 0 0-2 2, Krull 0 0 0-0 0.

Team statistics
H-BC: 14 of 42 field goals (33 percent), 21 of 35 field goals (60 percent), 37 rebounds, 10 turnovers.
Edgerton: 12 of 44 field goals (27 percent), nine of 16 free throws (56 percent), 22 rebounds, 17 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
Some clutch free-throw shooting by the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots gave them a berth in the semifinals of the South Section 3A Boys' Basketball Tournament Saturday.

Taking on No. 5 Murray County Central in a quarterfinal-round tilt in Worthington, the fourth-seeded Patriots drained five free throws in the game's final 1:20 to secure a 61-56 victory over the Rebels.

The win ups H-BC’s record to 15-8 heading into tonight’s semifinals in Worthington, where the team takes on top-seeded Southwest Christian at 6 p.m.

SWC, the three-time defending state champions, ousted Adrian 66-44 during another quarterfinal round game played Saturday.

The Eagles and Patriots have met two times during the regular season. SWC won both times, but the game played in Edgerton Feb. 19 was a tight one (59-54).

Saturday's clash against the Rebels also was up for grabs at the end of the game.

The teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 46, and the score was knotted at 56 as time was winding down.

Patriot junior guard Darin DeBoer, who had not scored a point in the game, gave the Patriots a 58-56 lead when he drained a pair of free throws.

DeBoer added another free throw after Brad Haak made a pair in the game’s final minute to ice a five-point Patriot win.

All things considered, free throws gave the Patriots their victory. H-BC outscored the Rebels 19-6 at the stripe during the game.

The game's first half featured both teams sporting two-point cushions at the quarter breaks.

H-BC played its way to a 15-13 edge during the first eight minutes of play. MCC countered by outscoring the Patriots 22-18 in the third quarter to gain a 35-33 edge at the intermission.

The Patriots tied the game at 46 with a 13-11 scoring cushion in the third quarter before outscoring MCC 15-10 in the final eight minutes of play.

Senior David Top carried the Patriots to victory by scoring a game-high 34 points. Top made 10 of 16 field goals in the game, and he canned both of his attempts from three-point land. Top was 12 of 12 at the charity stripe.

Haak, who scored 12 points and made all five of his field goals in the game, also turned in a solid effort. He had six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Top and Matt Buck led the Patriots with eight rebounds each. Lyle DeBoer contributed four assists to the win.

Box score
D.DeBoer 0 0 3-4 3, Van Maanen 0 0 0-0 0, Haak 5 0 2-5 12, Leuthold 0 0 0-0 0, L.DeBoer 2 0 0-2 4, Van Wyhe 0 0 1-2 1, Top 8 2 12-12 34, Buck 3 0 1-2 7.

Team statistics
H-BC: 20 of 40 field goals (50 percent), 19 of 27 free throws (70 percent), 31 rebounds, 18 turnovers.
MCC: 23 of 50 field goals (46 percent), six of eight free throws (75 percent), 22 rebounds, 18 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
A rocky start for the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots led to a season-ending boys' basketball loss in Worthington Thursday.

Taking on No. 1 Southwest Christian in a semifinal-round game of the South Section 3A Tournament, the fourth-seeded Patriots showed up for the 6 p.m. start about five minutes late mentally.

The oversight ultimately cost the Patriots the game as they fell 51-37 to the Eagles.

SWC's 14-point win sent it to Monday's championship game against Ellsworth, a 73-72 winner over Red Rock Central in another semifinal-round tilt played in Worthington. H-BC's 15-9 campaign came to an end.

The first five minutes of Thursday's meeting between H-BC and SWC proved to be the difference in the game.

While H-BC stumbled out of the blocks without scoring in the game's first 5:17, the three-time defending state champion Eagles raced to a 15-0 lead.

The Patriots ended up outscoring SWC 37-36 the rest of the night, but they couldn't overcome the mistakes that allowed the Eagles to open their commanding lead early in the game.

Back-to-back hoops by H-BC's Matt Buck and Lyle DeBoer cut SWCÕs 15-point cushion to 11 points (15-4) late in the first period. The Eagles, however, finished the quarter with an 8-3 surge that gave them a 23-7 advantage heading into the second quarter.

After SWC scored the first two points of the second period to expand its lead to 18 points, H-BC put together an 8-0 run capped by a field goal from Brad Haak at the 3:24 mark of the stanza to make it a 25-15 game.

H-BC couldn't cut into SWC's lead any more as the second period progressed. The Eagles used a 5-2 scoring edge in the final three minutes to make it a 30-17 game at the intermission.

SWC started the third quarter with a 7-2 run to open an 18-point (37-19) cushion.

Instead of giving up, the Patriots displayed some heart by outscoring the Eagles 9-2 the rest of the period. DeBoer capped the run by scoring off an offensive rebound with 43 seconds left in the period to make it a 39-28 game.

The difference still was 11 points (43-32) with 4:30 left to play in the fourth quarter, when SWC put together a 6-0 run that gave it a 49-32 lead with less than three minutes remaining.

H-BC ran out of challenges at that point, ending the game 14 points off the pace.

David Top, who had seven rebounds for H-BC, led the Patriots with nine points.

Buck and DeBoer recorded nine rebounds and three steals respectively to lead the Patriots in those categories.

Daniel DeWitt had 11 points and four rebounds for SWC, while Jeff Schaap had 10 points and five rebounds.

Box score
Metzger 0 0 0-0 0, D.DeBoer 1 0 2-2 4, Roozenboom 1 0 0-0 2, Van Maanen 0 0 0-0 0, Haak 2 0 1-4 5, Leuthold 1 0 0-0 2, L.DeBoer 4 0 0-0 8, Van Wyhe 0 0 1-2 1, Top 4 0 1-2 9, Krull 0 0 0-0 0, Buck 3 0 0-1 6.

Team statistics
H-BC: 16 of 49 field goals (33 percent), five of 11 free throws (45 percent), 28 rebounds, 13 turnovers.
SWC: 18 of 45 field goals (40 percent), six of 13 free throws (46 percent), 28 rebounds, 17 turnovers.

By Jolene Farley
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon have prompted global curiosity about Islam. Many people have no contact with the religion and wonder what Islamic sects really believe.

Pastor Lowell Berg of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Hills, knew his parishioners were also curious, so he invited Mike Zaske, pastor of the Lutheran churches in Adrian and Kenneth, to speak Sunday on the fundamental beliefs of Islam.

"I certainly don't come here to advertise myself as a great scholar of Islam," Zaske said. "I've never visited an Islamic country. I have no Islamic friends."

With all the media attention on Islam in recent months, Zaske realized that even though he attended a seminary for four years, he really knew little about Islam.

Zaske wanted to be able to watch the news and know what the announcers were talking about. He set out on a search for information about Islam, and what he learned he is now sharing with anyone who will listen.

"Probably what surprised me the most were the similarities between Christianity and Islam," he said "I didn't expect as many as there were."

Zaske condensed his information into a presentation detailing the history of Islam, its main beliefs and a comparison between Christianity and Islam.

Islamic history
Muhammad, born in Mecca (Saudi Arabia) in the year 570 A.D., was the founder of Islam.

The popular "religion" of the time was idol worship, and people involved in the "religion industry" made lots of money selling idols and running shrines.

When Muhammad was 40, he claimed the archangel Gabriel appeared to him in a cave and told him to tell the people about the one and only God that exists.

Preaching this message made Muhammad unpopular with the religious leaders of the time, and he was forced to leave Mecca in 622.

Two years later, Muhammad and his followers defeated the troops from Mecca in battle.

Muhammad returned victorious to Mecca and forgave his former enemies. His forgiveness won him many followers.

Muhammad believed it was his responsibility as a prophet to reveal God to the people. As a prophet, he also believed he was not "superhuman" but rather a lowly servant of God.

In 653 A.D., GodÕs revelations to Muhammad were gathered in a text, the Qur'an.

In addition, many stories and traditions about Mohammed's life were collected, written down, organized and codified into the Sharia.

Similarities between
Islam and Christianity
Both Muslims and Christians trace their roots back to Abraham, according to Zaske. Muslims descend from Abraham's son Ishmael and Christians from Isaac.

"Muslims see themselves as related to us Christians through Abraham," Zaske said. "In some respects weÕre kind of feuding cousins."

Zaske points out the many parallels between the Qur'an and the Bible: creation story, Cain and Abel, Noah (flood), Abraham, Joseph (coat), Moses (exodus), 10 Commandments, King David, birth and work of John the Baptist, virgin birth of Jesus and the miracles and teachings of Jesus.

Important differences
There are, however, many differences between Muslim and Western world legal systems.

"Our legal system looks at religion and civil society as being separate," said Zaske. "In the Islamic world that split simply doesn't exist."

Islamic law holds all people bound by God's law (as given to Muhammad) in every aspect of their lives.

Islamic law (the Sharia) was considered "fixed for all time" back around the year 800 A.D. Many legal issues exist today that were never considered in the year 800.

"There is huge tension in the Islamic world itself between those who want to take the Sharia literally and those who want to adopt it to more modern situations," Zaske said.

Zaske attributes much of toda's unrest in the Islamic world to the history of interactions between Christians and Muslims.

During the Crusades (1095 A.D. to 1291 A.D.) European Christian soldiers re-conquered Jerusalem and slaughtered its inhabitants (1099). The armies invaded the Holy Land eight times. The cross soon became a symbol of Western or Christian barbarism.

This explains the worldwide alarm when President George W. Bush stated in an address after the Sept. 11 tragedy that the United States was on a crusade, according to Zaske.

"To a Muslim person, to hear that word 'crusade' ...it would be the same as saying the word Gettysburg to someone in the South," he said.

Several developments during the mid-20th century have escalated the tension among Muslim countries to the point it is today.

The creation of Israel after World War II, which Palestinians saw as the theft of their land, was monumental.

It also hasn't helped that the U.S. government supported the Shah of Iran, "a very unpopular leader in his own country." In addition, the behavior of oil companies and U.S. pressure to adopt western practices has strained relations with the Middle-eastern countries.

Muslims believe ...
God's words are brought to prophets by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel is highly esteemed as the "Trustworthy Spirit."

Jesus was a highly-esteemed, honored messenger of God, but he was only human.

The crucifixion didn't happen. God wouldn't allow his messenger to be killed. It appeared Jesus was killed, but actually God rescued him miraculously.

God will multiply good deeds of those who have faith in God, believe his messengers and obey his commands. If the good deeds outweigh evil ones, heaven is given.

The writings in the Bible were tampered with by humans (translations). Biblical writings are only accepted if confirmed by the Qur'an. The Qur'an is never translated out of Arabic.