By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek boys' basketball team received a heavy dose of reality when it played Murray County Central in a Red Rock Conference tilt in Slayton Friday.
Taking on a Rebel team without two of its key seniors, the Patriots were an undermanned squad that played like one during an 88-57 setback.
Days after losing senior post Matt Buck with a broken foot, H-BC senior forward Brad Haak badly sprained his ankle in a win against Adrian Feb. 8. Both players could be out for the remainder of a season that soon could come to an end if the Patriots donÕt find a away to work around the injuries.
Buck and Haak are two key performers in the frontcourt for H-BC, and MCC took advantage of their absence offensively. The Rebels made 58 percent of their field goals against H-BC's depleted defense while outscoring the Patriots in every quarter.
The Rebels opened an eight-point lead (24-16) by the end of the first quarter before using a 21-19 scoring edge in the second period to make it a 45-35 game at the intermission.
MCC increased its lead to 16 points (45-49) in the third quarter before outscoring H-BC 23-18 in the final eight minutes of play to prevail by 21.
Senior David Top did his best to pick up the slack left by his injured classmates.
Top made 12 of 17 field goals while netting 28 points. He also led H-BC with nine rebounds and two steals. Top's night also featured three assists.
Lyle DeBoer had six rebounds and four assists for the Patriots. Darin DeBoer added four assists.
Box score
Metzger 2 0 0-0 4, D.DeBoer 1 0 3-3 5, Roozenboom 4 0 0-0 8, Van Maanen 3 0 0-0 6, Leuthold 2 0 0-0 4, L.DeBoer 0 0 0-0 0, Van Wyhe 4 0 0-0 8, Top 12 0 4-7 28, Krull 0 0 0-0 0, Bush 0 0 2-2 2, Wiertzema 1 0 0-0 2.
Team statistics
H-BC: 29 of 60 field goals (48 percent), nine of 12 free throws (75 percent), 29 rebounds, 18 turnovers.
MCC: 35 of 60 field goals (58 percent), 10 of 14 free throws (71 percent), 20 rebounds, 18 turnovers.