After a one-year layoff, Hills-Beaver Creek High School will be sending an athlete to compete with the Luverne-H-BC gymnastics program this winter.

No H-BC students opted to compete in gymnastics during the 1999-2000 season, but one Patriot has thrown her hat in the ring this year.

Angi Bush, an H-BC sophomore, is listed on L-H-BC coach Phoebe FlomÕs pre-season roster.

Flom said Bush has been a program member in the past, but not for a couple of years.

The Cardinal coach said Bush has been preparing for the season as an all-round competitor and added that she will make an immediate impact with L-H-BC's junior varsity team to start the 2000-01 season on the floor and beam.

L-H-BC is coming off a 5-9 season in 1999-00.

The Cardinals placed fifth in the Southwest Conference with a 2-4 record and turned in a strong showing by placing fourth as a team at the Section 3A Championships in February.

L-H-BC lost one senior (Brooke Nelson) member of last year's varsity team to graduation, and two other varsity contributors (Brooke Lundgren and Alicia Moerke) decided not to compete in gymnastics this season.

The Cardinals do have senior Allana Gacke, juniors Amanda Aning and Jessica Mann, sophomore Gabe Van Dyk and freshman Callen Bosshart with past section experience returning to the fold, as well as freshman letter winner Danielle Cook.

L-H-BC's 20-athlete roster consists of three seniors, two juniors, seven sophomores, two freshmen, four eighth-graders and two seventh-graders.

The team opens the season by hosting Pipestone-Jasper Tuesday, Dec. 5.

By John Rittenhouse
For a coach who lost nearly one-half of his varsity roster from the year before, Hills-Beaver Creek boys' basketball mentor Steve Wiertzema doesn't seem a bit uncomfortable.

H-BC took a big hit from graduation last spring when it lost seven contributing members from last year's team, but Wiertzema is coping with the situation well.

"We lost seven kids who played a lot for us last year," the Patriot coach admitted. "Basically, we have one kid coming back who started most of our games last year, and another one who started for us after Christmas. That's the experience we have coming back."

All seven of last year's seniors earned starting assignments for a Patriots team that had an up-and-down campaign.

H-BC played its way to an above .400 record (4-3) in the Tri-County Conference in 1999-2000 and finished the season with an 8-15 record after falling 58-49 to Westbrook-Walnut Grove in a preliminary-round game in the South Section 3A Tournament.

Eric Harnack and Ryan Rentschler were the senior leaders of last year's team.
Harnack, who led the Patriots in scoring as a starting guard, played his way onto the All-T-CC roster.

Rentschler, a forward, played well enough to draw honorable mention from the league's coaches when the season was complete.

To compound the situation, H-BC lost five more seniors who made contributions at every position on the floor.

Chris Nelson and Ryan Behr helped the Patriots at the guard position, while classmate Nathan Fodness made an impact at center. Like Rentschler, Andy Tofteland was a senior who manned the forward position for H-BC.

Wiertzema's first task of the year will be to fill the roles played by last yearÕs seniors with athletes who will be short on varsity experience.

H-BC's pre-season roster consists of 13 players. Three are seniors, nine are juniors and one is a freshman.

Two of the team members did draw starting assignments during the course of last season, and two more earned varsity letters.

According to Wiertzema, there is a silver lining to this situation. What these Patriots lack in experience can be countered with individual desire.

"We have a really hard-working bunch of kids. They are an unselfish group who work well together. ThatÕs a positive sign. We'll be able to play eight to nine guys this year so we have good depth. Having depth and kids who really put out effort is a nice combination to have," he said.

Senior Lance Crawford and junior Matt Buck are returning players who started for H-BC last season.

Crawford, a 6-1 post, is an excellent athlete with the most varsity experience.
Buck, a 6-1 post, is the player who entered H-BC's starting five in January. A solid performer in the paint, Buck played his way onto the All-T-CC roster as a sophomore.

Wiertzema also expects seniors Chris Fransman and Derek Ehde to play expanded roles for the Patriots this winter.

Fransman is a 6-1 forward, and Ehde is a 5-10 guard. Both players lettered for H-BC last winter.

"I think Lance Crawford and Matt Buck will be our leaders," Wiertzema said. "They have the most experience, and the other kids seem to be following those two. I expect the other two seniors (Fransman and Ehde) to play a lot, too."

The coach feels four more juniors appear to be ready to help the Patriots on the floor even though they don't have a lot of varsity experience working for them.
Brad Haak, David Top and Lyle and Darin DeBoer are the juniors who will need to produce for H-BC this season.

Darin DeBoer is a 6-1 guard. Haak (6-1), Top (6-4) and Lyle DeBoer (6-1) are projected forwards.

Of the first eight players Wiertzema mentioned during his pre-season interview, seven are posts or forwards and the other is a guard.

Along with a lack of experience, the coach also lists unproven play at guards as areas of concerns as the season approaches.

"Experience is a concern. We have a little experience in the post area, but we donÕt have very much experience at the guard positions. We'll be strong in the post. We've got to develop some guard play," Wiertzema said.

Paul Jess, a 5-10 junior, is the only other guard besides Ehde and Darin DeBoer listed on the roster.

Rounding out the junior members on the squad are Justin Van Maanen, Kevin Van Batavia and Randy Krull.

Van Maanen and Van Batavia are 5-11 and 6-1 forwards respectively. Krull is a 6-0 center.

Trey Van Wyhe, a 6-1 freshman post, caps the pre-season roster.

H-BC will not be a tall team, so Wiertzema hopes to make up for it by playing an up-tempo style of basketball on both ends of the floor.

"We'll try to push the ball up and down the court and take the first good shot that is available. We also want to hit the boards hard. We'll be a man-to-man team defensively. I donÕt know how much we'll be able to press, but we'll try to play man-to-man defense and really get after it," he said.

Wiertzema feels defending state champion Southwest Christian may come back to the basketball pack after losing a lot of seniors last spring, but he still lists the Eagles as the favorite in the T-CC this winter. Edgerton also will be strong team in the conference.

SWC, Edgerton, Murray County Central and Adrian are teams to beat in what should be a balanced South Section 3A field.

The coach said H-BC has not set any goals for the season, but he does expect a successful year on the court.

"We're looking for a real good year. I think we'll develop into a real nice team. The way these kids are playing together, they will have a lot of fun. I think we will surprise a lot of people this season," he concluded.

The Patriots open the season at the Lake Park (Iowa) Tournament tomorrow.

Tara Boeve and the rest of the members of Augustana College's volleyball team accomplished their goal of winning the NCAA Division 2 North Central Region Volleyball Tournament over the weekend.

Boeve, a 1999 Hills-Beaver Creek High School graduate, and the Vikings hosted the regional at the Elmen Center Thursday through Saturday.

The Vikings, the nationÕs sixth-ranked team, drew the tournament's top seed and made it stand up by disposing of a pair of opponents by 3-0 scores.

By winning the North Central Region, Augustana College has qualified for the Elite Eight Tournament for the first time in school history.

It was learned Monday that the Vikings will host the single elimination Elite Eight National Tournament Nov. 30-Dec. 2.

The quarterfinal round of the single elimination tournament is set for Nov. 30, with 28-3 Augustana taking on 35-1 West Texas A&M at 7:30 p.m at the Elmen Center. The Vikings handed West Texas A&M its lone loss of the season during a tournament early in the season.

Other quarterfinal-round games have California University of Pennsylvania (26-10) playing Pace University (35-4) at noon, Hawaii Pacific (25-0) meeting Grand Valley State University (31-3) at 2:30 p.m., and University of North Alabama (39-2) squaring off against University of Tampa (29-3) at 5 p.m.

The semifinals will be at 6 and 8 p.m. Dec. 1, and the title match is set for 7 p.m. Dec. 2.

Augustana won its region championship by besting the University of Northern Colorado Friday and South Dakota State University Saturday.

The Viking handed UNC 15-7, 15-9 and 15-8 setbacks during the semifinals Friday.
Boeve made a contribution to the victory by completing 21 of 24 spikes and registering 11 kills. She also had one solo and one assisted block and two defensive digs during the win.

Augustana met SDSU in the region championship game and posted 15-10, 15-6 and 15-6 victories.

Boeve completed all nine of her spikes and notched five kills in the title match. She also had three assisted blocks and three defensive digs in the contest.

Hills Christian School students practice Friday afernoon for a vocal contest. They are, front row left to right: Preston VandenBosch, Eric Bork, Toni Nagel, and back row Danielle Fransman, Kelsey Leuthold, Katie Bosch, and Sara Davis. Nine students, grades five through eight, will travel to Edgerton christian School to compete.

Four Hills-Beaver Creek spikers were honored when the All-Tri County Conference Volleyball Team was announced last week.

H-BC, which placed second in the league with a 4-4 record, picked up a pair of All-T-CC selections. Two more Patriots drew honorable mention.

Making the 12-player All-T-CC roster for the Patriots are senior hitter Shanna Tilstra and freshman hitter Erin Boeve.

H-BC junior hitters Becky Broesder and Tonya Leenderts were two of six players to receive honorable mention from the league's coaches.

Southwest Christian, the conference champion, led all teams by drawing five all-league selections.

Seniors Renita Buys, Dawn Dreessen, Beth Basselink and Tosha Top and junior Ginnie Vis made the team for the E-Gals.

Edgerton, which placed second in the loop, picked up three all-conference selections.

Seniors Robin Vander Stoep and Kristin Rieck and junior Kala Menning made the team for the Flying Dutchmen.

Ellsworth seniors Connie Lewis and Holly Timmer round out the all-conference roster.

Besides Leenderts and Broesder, Edgerton junior Brittany Kruisselbrink and sophomore Amber Poppen, SWC junior Brigette Schelhaas and Faith Christian junior Andrea Teerink received honorable mention from the coaches.

Final T-CC standings: SWC 6-0, Edgerton 6-2, H-BC 4-4, Ellsworth 2-5, FC 0-7.

We usually think of turkeys as the main course for Thanksgiving dinner, but 4- and 5-year-old students in Jane Gropel's Discovery Time preschool class have been thinking about how turkeys might celebrate the holiday.

They wore turkey headgear, which they had created in an earlier class, and pretended to be turkeys, which involved crouching down, flapping their wings and, of course, lots of gobbling.

Above, Gropel and the student turkeys prepare to enjoy a special turkey treat of pudding and snack mix. At right, Victoria Kalass sorts through her snack pack for just the right turkey tidbit.

There will be four senior members of Hills-Beaver Creek High School's girls' basketball team this winter. Left to right are Rachael DeHaan, Jamie Arp, Jamie Brandt and Shanna Tilstra.

By John Rittenhouse

The Hills-Beaver Creek girls are expecting to play a different brand of basketball during the 2000-01 season.

After spending recent years running post-oriented offenses to take advantage of talented centers, Patriot coach Tom Goehle will change gears this year and open things up.

Instead of trying to pound the ball inside to take advantage of their centers in recent years, Goehle is leaning toward an up-tempo style of play.

Although this change of philosophy has led to a bit of confusion, the Patriot coach feels it will be a change for the better - for his team and for H-BC basketball fans alike.

"We're going to be running a motion offense without (designated) posts or wings, so it's hard for me to classify which different positions the girls will be playing. I do think this will make us a team that is a lot of fun to watch play. We'll try to play an up-tempo style of basketball, and we'll try to make other teams work for everything they get against us," Goehle said.

Changing styles was more of a necessity than a choice for Goehle, who knew he would enter the season without a proven scorer in the post.

Graduation last spring claimed center Dana Sells, who led the Patriots in scoring and rebounding last year. The 1999-00 season featured the Patriots placing second in the Tri-County Conference with a 6-2 record and finishing the year with a 13-11 overall mark.

Last year's season featured a 53-34 win over Westbrook-Walnut Grove in the quarterfinal round of the Section 3A Tournament but ended with a 46-36 loss to eventual tournament champion Adrian, a team H-BC beat during the regular season, in the semifinals.

Sells, who was one of seven senior members of last year's team, was H-BC's go-to player on offense. She handled the responsibility well enough to earn a spot on the All-T-CC roster at season's end.

Sells was joined by three classmates who earned starting assignments for the Patriots last season.

Rachel Krull, a three-year starter at point guard, was H-BCÕs second leading scorer last winter.

Krull made the All-T-CC Team, as did classmate Nichole Top, a starting wing who was a key leader for the Patriots.

Darcie DeBoer, a starting forward who played outstanding defense in the low post, also was lost to graduation. She drew honorable mention from the T-CC coaches.

Sells, Krull, Top and DeBoer leave a big hole to be filled on the court for H-BC, and classmates Becky Mulder, Becky Nuffer and Kim DeNoble also will be missed by their former coach.

"Any time you lose that many girls from a personnel standpoint, you have to be concerned. When you lose seven seniors in general, you also lose a certain amount of continuity and a certain amount of leadership. There is inexperience at the varsity level with this year's team, but these girls are quick learners. They are quick to adjust to certain situations, and I donÕt think it will take them long to adjust to playing varsity basketball," Goehle said.

Goehle begins the year with a 10-player roster consisting of four seniors, five juniors and one freshman.

Seven of the roster members lettered for H-BC last year, and two drew starting assignments during the course of the season.

Senior Shanna Tilstra has to be considered H-BC's top returnee.

Tilstra started for H-BC at times during a junior season that had her missing four to six weeks of the regular season due to a stress fracture in her leg. A 5-9 wing, she has played with the varsity team since she was a freshman.

Becky Broesder, a 5-8 junior, also drew some starting assignments for the Patriots last winter.

Broesder is a guard who is second to Tilstra in overall varsity experience.
Senior Rachael DeHaan, juniors Brittney Olson and Jody DeNoble and freshman Erin Boeve picked up some playing time for H-BC last season.

DeHaan is a 5-8 post, DeNoble a 5-8 wing-post, and Olson a 5-7 guard.
Boeve's court time progressed as the season went along last year. A 6-0 wing-post, Boeve is the leading rebounder of the players returning from last year's team.

Senior Jamie Arp earned a varsity letter for the Patriots last winter, but the 5-8 post didn't gain a lot of playing time as a junior.

Jamie Brandt, another senior, is playing basketball for the first time since the eighth grade. The 5-3 Brandt is behind her peers as far as knowing Goehle's terminology, but she brings intensity and quickness to the floor.

Rounding out the roster are juniors Tonya Leenderts and LaDonna Sandstede, who didn't play at the varsity level last season.

Leenderts is a 5-8 wing, while Sandstede is a 5-5 guard.

Goehle said his 2000-01 Patriots have some endearing qualities.

"I've really been pleased with their intensity and work ethic. I think our overall team quickness and overall team intensity will be our strengths, and the fact that these girls play so well together. They pass and move the ball well, and that will be another one of their strengths," he said.

Goehle feels the Patriots also will benefit from what their new assistant coach, Brent Grengs, has to offer.

Grengs was the head boys' basketball coach in Farmington before moving to the H-BC School District with his wife, Kim, (H-BCÕs Elementary School principal) this year.

"Bringing someone with his kind of knowledge and intensity can only help the kids. It surly will make a big difference for our program," Goehle said.
Goehle feels Southwest Christian will be the team to beat in the T-CC, even though the E-Gals lost a number of players to graduation last spring.

Since Fulda returns all of its players from last year, Goehle feels the Raiders have to be considered to be the favorite in what should be a very balanced Section 3A field.

Although the Patriots are short on experience, the Patriot mentor feels his team should be able to offer a challenge to every squad on the schedule.

"Ever since I've been a coach, I've never gone into a game believing we couldn't win it, and that's the type of attitude we'll take into every game this season," he concluded.

Hills businesses would like to extend their heartfelt appreciation to their customers by inviting them to Hills Appreciation Day beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 2.

Those interested can stop by businesses for lunch. Ham sandwiches, potato chips, beans and a beverage will be served.

A program at the Tuff Home by Prairie Winds Zoo will begin at 1 p.m. with Santa arriving afterwards. Also, horse and buggy rides are planned throughout the day.

Development plans for golfing facilities on the southeast edge of Beaver Creek are proceeding.

Course layout plans and lot locations are finalized, according to investor Rod Scholten. Engineering has completed the layout on-site by staking the lots.
An outstanding layout was designed for the clubhouse/banquet facility/bar and grill, according to Scholten.

Projected cost of the project is not available. Scholten said there are too many variables to pin down a figure yet. The biggest variable is lot development costs. Investors hope to put special assessments on the lots and are negotiating with the city.

"We are pursuing another venue of financing but we still hope to have a functioning banquet facility, restaurant and driving range by late spring or early June," said investor Tim Lange.

Investors attended the Beaver Creek city council meeting last week to inform the council of the status of the project. Investors in the project are Mike Blank, Rodney Scholten, Leonard Scholten and Tim Lange.

Investors had hoped to begin construction on Oct. 1, but planners have enountered some delays.

"We have been very careful to make good business decisions, which makes the project appear to be behind in the short term, but makes the long-term project better," Scholten said.

"This project is a huge undertaking and will benefit the communities in and around Beaver Creek so substantially, that we want to make sure everything is in place."

Investors have extended the deadline to purchase lifetime memberships for the course. They originally planned to offer memberships until Dec. 1. A lifetime family membership sells for $4,000.

The annual fee to belong to the course is $375 for family membership and $275 for individual.

Questions about the golf course can be directed to Rod Scholten at 855-2292 or Mike Blank at 673-2271.