By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls came up on the short end of a five-game volleyball battle in Hills Tuesday.

Playing host to Edgerton in a Red Rock Conference match, it looked like the Patriots might recover from a slow start by rallying to win Games 3 and 4 and knotting the match at two wins each.

The Patriots, however, lost the momentum in the fifth game and came up on the short end of a 3-2 tally when the Flying Dutchmen took the game by a 15-6 margin.

The night was filled with ups and downs for the Patriots, who slipped to 4-3 in league play with the loss.

"We got off to a slow start in the first game before coming back to lose a close game," said Patriot coach Nicole Fey.

"Game 2 was tight the whole way, but they pulled it out in the end. We started out better in Games 3 and 4 and won them, but we lost it again in the fifth game."

The key to victory for Edgerton was that it came up big in the end to post 15-13 and 17-15 wins in the first two games.

H-BC bounced back to even the match at two games each with 15-10 and 15-9 wins in the third and fourth tilts. Edgerton won the war with its nine-point victory in Game 5.

Inconsistency and some blocking problems hampered the Patriots in the match.

"We have a really good volleyball team this year," Fey offered. "The problem is we're playing very inconsistently. Another thing that hurt us is that we were a step or two slow with our blocks in this match."

Erin Boeve didn't have any trouble finding holes in EdgertonÕs defense as she registered 36 kills during the match.

Brittney Olson hit the floor to produce 18 digs. Tonya Leenderts had 17 digs and 15 service points for the Patriots.

The 6-9 H-BC squad plays road matches against Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton tonight and Monday before hosting Southwest Star Concept Tuesday.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek recovered from a slow start to produce a 3-1 volleyball victory over Ellsworth in Hills Monday.

After falling behind 10-0 and eventually falling 15-13 in Game 1, the Patriots regained their winning form to secure 15-6, 15-5 and 15-0 wins to take the non-conference match against the Panthers.

When the match was complete, Patriot coach Nicole Fey was proud of the way her players bounced back from adversity early in the contest.

"We really struggled receiving serves, and we couldn't get anything going early in the match. After falling behind 10-0, we came back and played very strong volleyball the rest of the night," she said.

The momentum H-BC gained by scoring 13 of the last 18 points in Game 1 carried over into the second game when the Patriots evened the match at one game each.

Ellsworth led 4-3 in the second game when the Patriots went on an 8-0 run featuring two kills, one block and one service point by Erin Boeve, three service points by LaDonna Sandstede and a kill by Jody Rentschler to take an 11-4 advantage.

The Panthers closed the gap to five points at 11-6, but a block and a kill by Boeve followed by a pair of service points from Rentschler capped a 15-6 H-BC win that knotted the match at one game each.

H-BC scored the first 11 points and coasted to a 15-5 win in the second game.

The opening run featured two kills by Jana Hup, two kills and a block by Boeve, five service points by Leenderts and a kill by Angie Sjaarda.

Ellsworth scored the next four points to trail 11-4 before H-BC settled the issue with a 4-1 surge consisting of an ace serve by Melissa Fagerness, a kill by Cassi Tilstra, a block by Boeve and a service point from Kelsey Hansel.

The Patriots dominated Game 4 without surrendering a point.

Tonya Leenderts served the first six points with Boeve adding a kill, a block and a tip, and Sandstede adding another tip. Hup served an ace and two more points, and Brittney Olson delivered an ace serve to make it 10-0. Sjaarda served three aces and Boeve came up with a kill and a block to end the game.

The Patriots nearly recovered from a 10-0 deficit to win Game 1.

H-BC used two kills, two blocks and one service point by Boeve, one kill, one service point and one ace serve by Hup and one service point by Leenderts to trim EllsworthÕs early lead to one point at 10-9.

After Boeve tied the game at 12 with a kill, Leenderts gave the Patriots their first lead (13-12) with a service point that was followed by a three-point EHS run that settled the issue.

Boeve led H-BC at the net with 26 kills and five blocks. Sandstede distributed 26 set assists, and Leenderts produced 22 service points and nine digs.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth cross country runners battled the competition and the weather conditions at the Pipestone-Jasper Invitational in Pipestone Monday.

Mixing it up with some strong teams on a hot day for early October made it a challenging day for the Patriots.

The H-BC-E athletes met the challenge in a positive way, according to Patriot coach Tom Goehle.

"It was a lot warmer day than what we've been seeing lately, and some of our kids found it hard to adjust to it. They were a little tired because we've been having some hard practices, but we ran pretty well for being tired," he said.

The Patriots fielded a complete boys' varsity team that scored 46 points to place second behind Worthington, which tallied 27 counters. Luverne was third with 102 points.

Brad HaakÕs impressive senior season continued as he won the varsity race with a time of 17:34.

Tyler Bush (sixth in 18:32), Nathan Fick (10th in 18:46), Kale Wiertzema (14th in 19:21) and Lee Walraven (15th in 19:34) completed H-BC-E's varsity effort.

The Patriot boys' junior varsity placed second behind Brandon Valley (S.D.) with a total of 67 points.

Greg Van Batavia paced the Patriots by finishing fourth in 15:13.

Lee Jackson (ninth in 16:57), Derek Haak (15th in 17:18), Paul Jess (18th in 18:17) and Jared Drenth (21st in 18:58) padded the boys' junior varsity team tally.

Goehle was unsure what place the H-BC-E girls' junior varsity team finished in.

Cassi Tilstra and Brittney Rozeboom ran strong races by finishing third and seventh with respective 17:34 and 19:00 times.

Stacy Bush (13th in 20:25), Amanda Tilstra (16th in 20:30) and Becky Broesder (18th in 20:47) also ran in the junior varsity race for the Patriot girls.

The boys' junior high squad placed second behind Brandon Valley with 50 points.

Devin DeBoer, Kerry Fink and John Sandbulte placed sixth in 6:14, eighth in 6:19 and ninth in 6:24 to led the Patriots.

Adam Finke and Grant Hoogendoorn capped the team effort by finishing 11th and 16th with respective 6:33 and 6:52 times.

Justin Hinks didn't contribute to the tally after placing 19th in 8:24.

The Patriot runners will compete at the Rock County Invitational and Adrian Invitational today and Tuesday. Both meets will be staged at the Adrian Country Club.

By John Rittenhouse
A fast start by the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth Patriots set the stage for a 26-16 homecoming victory over Lincoln HI in Hills Friday.

With a big crowd on hand to watch H-BC-E's first game of the season in Hills, the Patriots didn't disappoint their fans. They erupted for 20 points in the first quarter.

The Rebels outscored H-BC-E 16-6 the rest of the way, but they never got any closer to catching the Patriots than the 10-point margin at game's end.

"We jumped out to an early lead, and our defense did a good job of holding them down the rest of the night," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "I think this was the most physical game we played all year, and we needed to be physical because LH was a big, strong team."

The win leaves H-BC-E with a 5-0 overall record and a 4-0 mark in the Southwest Ridge Conference.

The Patriots, defending state champion Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster are tied for first place in the loop with 4-0 records.

The standings will take on a new look tomorrow night as H-BC-E squares off against SV-RL-B in Hills.

"SV-RL-B was ranked No. 2 in the last state poll," Ellingson said. "They like to run the option on offense, and (back) Ryan Paplow has the most rushing yards in our conference right now. Paplow is a very fast runner. SV-RL-B is a very physical team, too."

A fast start like the one H-BC-E used to best LH would help the Patriots' cause against the Raiders tomorrow.

H-BC-E took a 6-0 lead with the opening possession of the game and took advantage of a pair of turnovers by the Rebels to increase the advantage to 20 points by the end of the first quarter.

After receiving the kick to start the contest, H-BC-E went on a 69-yard drive that ended with David Top tossing a 26-yard touchdown pass to Brad Haak. A missed extra-point attempt kept the tally at 6-0.

LH moved the ball into Patriot territory with its first possession before Patriot Curt Schilling, who had 22 tackles in the game, recovered a fumble to end the threat.

A few plays later, Top and Chris Tiesler connected for a 55-yard touchdown pass. Chris Reid carried in the two-point conversion to make it a 14-0 game.

The Patriot defense chipped in a big play as the period progressed when Reid intercepted a pass and returned it 60 yards to cap H-BC-E's 20-point run.

H-BC-E was unable to score in the second and third quarters, but the Patriot defense kept the game under control by limiting LH to eight points during the same periods.

Rebel running back Scott Fogelson ended H-BC-E's shutout bid when he scored on a four-yard run in the latter part of the second quarter. A successful conversion pass from quarterback Josh Eastman to Kyle Sik sliced the difference to 12 points at 20-8.

The score remained the same until the fourth quarter. After H-BC-E’s defense stopped the Rebels on downs, the Patriot offense went on a drive that ended with Reid scoring on a 44-yard burst with 7:30 remaining. A failed conversion run left the Patriots sporting a 26-8 advantage.

SV-RL-B ended the scoring with less than 1:00 remaining. Jack Weber scored on a four-yard run before Eastman and Sik hooked up for another conversion to make it a 10-point difference in the end.

With Reid rushing for 144 yards and Top passing for 137 more, Ellingson was proud of the contribution the H-BC-E offense made to the homecoming win.

"We had a good night offensively. We moved the ball well and picked up a lot of first downs. LH ran more plays than we did, but we were able to score when we had to," he concluded.

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 218 rushing yards, 137 passing yards, 355 total yards, 12 first downs, three penalties for 35 yards, three turnovers.

LH: 129 rushing yards, 83 passing yards, 212 total yards, nine first downs, zero penalties, five turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 21-144, Lyle DeBoer 3-13, Top 3-1, Tiesler 4-11, Jesse Leuthold 7-47, Kevin Van Batavia 1-2.
Passing: Top 6-10 for 137 yards.

Receiving: Haak 4-59, Tiesler 1-55, Reid 1-23.

Defense: Schilling 22 tackles and one fumble recovery, Reid four tackles and two interceptions, Leuthold nine tackles, Brant Deutsch five tackles and one fumble recovery, Darin DeBoer four tackles and one interception.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team recorded a Red Rock Conference win without the guidance of head coach Nicole Fey Thursday.

Fey was in Rochester with her father, who was undergoing surgery that day.

Patriot assistant coach Amanda Rozeboom took over for Fey, and the players responded well by posting a 3-1 victory over Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster in Round Lake.

H-BC got off to a great start by rolling to a 15-5 victory in the opener, but the Raiders climbed back into the match by taking Game 2 by a 15-6 margin.

The Patriots edged the hosts 15-13 in the third game to gain the upper hand at 2-1 before completing the deal with a 15-5 victory in the fourth game.

Tonya Leenderts led the Patriots with 14 service points and 11 digs. She also had six kills for an H-BC team that upped its RRC record to 4-2 with the win.

Erin Boeve had another big night at the net by shredding the Raider defense with 27 kills. Boeve also had nine digs.

Investor Ben Davis lines up to drive off hole No. 1... or what will soon be hole No. 1 on the golf course planned east of Beaver Creek. Surveyors work in the background plotting a road through the development that will include an entertainment facility and 34 residential lots.

By Jolene Farley
An idea conceived one and one-half years ago is becoming a reality. A golf course near Beaver Creek will be open by next spring if things run according to plan, according to investors.

Construction work began Tuesday shortly after investors closed on an 86-acre parcel of land east of Beaver Creek purchased from Steve and Kathy Thurman.

Surveyors began plotting the road to a planned development of 34 lots available for home construction, a nine-hole golf course and an entertainment facility.

A limited liability corporation was created by investors Mike Blank, Rod Scholten, Ben Davis, Leonard Scholten and Dan Van Otterloo before beginning the project.

Financing wasn't the biggest hurdle for the project, Davis said. A development including several housing lots, a golf course and an entertainment facility needs extensive planning.

"No one has ever set something up like this in less than six months," he said.

Prairieland Development, a state entity formed to spur development in rural Minnesota, was instrumental in moving the project along.

"They worked with us on a business plan and discovering if there was a viable market (for the project)," said Davis. "They were instrumental in helping us."

Investors hope the road will be complete and the lots sectioned off and sold within the next two to three weeks.

Median price of the lots is $26,000 to $27,000, with higher end lots priced at $30,000 to $31,000. Least expensive lots are priced in the low 20s, according to Davis.

Some lots are already spoken for, even though the partners did not actively market them. Word of mouth is basically what sold them, Davis said.

Local contractors will be used for all construction, with the five partners acting as general contractors, according to Davis.

All construction companies involved met with the partners last week. "Everybody is in line and ready to roll," said Davis.

When asked how the partners came up with the idea of building a golf course, Van Otterloo said, "We love the sport and we spent so much time on different courses. We watched how they were developed, the tree placement and scenery."

This love of the game led to the idea that they themselves could build not only a golf course but a whole development.

Extra credit for the project becoming a reality should be given to Rod Scholten and Mike Blank, according to Davis. "They have really done a lot of the leg work," said Davis. "They are the golfers; we are the caddies."

Amenities in the entertainment facility, which may be open as soon as next spring, include a banquet hall seating about 300 people with a built-in stage area and a bar and restaurant seating 70 people.

The partners shy away from a sports bar atmosphere for the clubhouse. "It's going to be a community clubhouse. We want to make sure everyone is comfortable," Davis said.

By Jolene Farley
With an estimated 25 percent of Rock County farmers combining soybeans, this year's yields are so far better than some expected.

Hail in the southern part of the county and corn "toppled" by strong winds in the central to northern part of the county were the two roadblocks Rock County producers faced this growing season, according to Rock County Extension Educator Fraser Norton.

The forced replanting of hailed beans coupled with a dry August caused many farmers to expect greatly reduced bean yields, Norton said.

"Some producers are surprised with their yields," said Norton. "Everybody got depressed because August was so dry, but yields are better than expected."

Norton has seen yields ranging from 35 to 60 bushels per acre so far this year. Beans are dryer than expected, with 9 to 11 percent moisture content.

Beaver Creek farmer Joel Hartz began combining beans Saturday and had more than 250 acres done by Tuesday. "I tried some corn, but it was just too wet," he said.

Hartz agrees with Norton. "Considering how dry it was in August, I am surprised at how well they are yielding," said Hartz. "I just finished a 100-acre field. I had beans as low as 45 and as high as 54 (bushels) per acre."

Hartz's yield so far tops NortonÕs countywide average yield estimate for this year of 41 to 42 bushels per acre.

The average soybean yield per acre in Rock County for the last five years is 45 bushels per acre. The record bean yield year is 1999 with 48 bushels per acre.

While farmers in some parts of the county are combining beans, few have started on corn. Norton expects that to change by next week, with freezing temperatures forecast by the end of this week.

Farmer Morris Fick said only a few farmers in his area 10 miles southwest of Luverne are combining beans or corn. "We've got beans close, but they donÕt look like they are quite ready yet," he said. "There arenÕt very many people going in this area. We had a little bit too much hail."

The small amount of corn already combined in Rock County was toppled by the wind, according to Norton. Some of this corn yielded in the area of 50 bushels per acre.

"You can drive down the road and the corn will look fine, but when you get up on a hill you can see how much is downed," said Norton.

The determining factors for the amount of crop damaged by the strong winds was the corn's stage of growth, variety and corn root worms, according to Norton.

Most corn plants were not tasseled out when the winds hit, so brace roots had not developed to keep the plants anchored during the winds.

Norton expects this year's corn yield to be in the neighborhood of 135 to 140 bushels per acre, lower than last year's record average yield of 158 bushels per acre. The Rock County corn yield average is 142 bushels per acre.

"Unfortunately, it's going to be a very average year," said Norton. "Yields are down this year, and the price farmers can expect to receive for their product will be about the same as last year. Namely, the loan rate."

By Jolene Farley
Steen resident and H-BC School Board member Dave Roozenboom is hospitalized in the Avera McKennan Burn Unit following a gas grill accident Friday night.

Roozenboom has first- and second-degree and a few third-degree burns to his face and arms and will remain hospitalized for at least another week or two, according to Roozenboom's wife, Eunice.

"We are going to find out on Thursday, as far as skin grafting," said Eunice.

Roozenboom was preparing a gas grill for the homecoming tailgate party scheduled by the Hills-Beaver Creek Junior class when the flame went out.

Without realizing how long gas had been building up inside the grill, Roozenboom tried to light the grill, and flames shot out like a torch, Eunice said.

Junior parents and teachers administered first aid until the Hills Rescue Squad arrived on the scene.
Eunice said the Roozenbooms appreciate all the care and concern shown by the community.

She commends the Hills Rescue Squad for all that they did. "He couldn't have asked for better care than he got," said Eunice.

No visitors are permitted in the burn unit, but cards can be sent to Dave Roozenboom, c/o Avera McKennan Burn Unit, PO Box 5045, Sioux Falls, SD, 57117-5045.

Above, Wally's Nursery, Hills, grew pumpkins in all shapes and sizes this year. At right, Frances Horwitz, Sioux Falls, carefully selects potatoes for an evening meal.Pumpkin season is in full swing at Wally's Nursery, Hills. It has been an exceptionally good year, according to partner Delwyn Walraven.

"Pumpkins grew bigger this year because it rained in August and September," said Walraven. "It's been warm, too; some years it is quite a bit cooler. When it freezes they stop growing."

The Walravens usually plant about 70 hills of large pumpkins and 30 hills of small pumpkins.
They normally are very close to selling out. "Last year we had some left over. Most years we have a few but not very many," said Walraven.

Wally's Nursery has no special secret to growing pumpkins. "We just let them grow naturally," said Delwyn.

Some growers set pumpkins upright as they begin to grow but Walravens just let them lay on their sides. "You get different, odd shapes and that's got its own beauty, too."

In addition to those in the market for pumpkins, the nursery draws customers looking for home-grown flavor in their fall produce.

"My wife comes down all the time to buy, at least once a week," said Sioux Falls customer Bud Horwitz. "They keep it fresh. They do a good job of constantly picking."

Horwitz's wife, Frances, is a "fanatical cook" and is aggravated when she cannot find nice produce, according to Horwitz. In addition to the fresh produce, the couple enjoys the beautiful drive between Sioux Falls and Hills.

Wally's rarely advertises but relies on word of mouth and signs on Highway 270 to clue people in about their location and selections, according to Walraven.