By John Rittenhouse
The basketball season came to a stunning conclusion for the Hills-Beaver Creek girls with a last-second shot in Edgerton Tuesday.
Playing No. 2 Southwest Christian in a quarterfinal round clash, the seventh-seeded Patriots erased a 28-24 deficit entering the fourth quarter to knot the score at 38 with 15 seconds left to play.
When Cassi Tilstra, who tied the game at 38 with a free throw, missed her second attempt, SWC collected the rebound and pushed the ball past midcourt before calling time-out with eight seconds remaining.
SWCÕs Lisa Holleman received the ball when play resumed and delivered a leaping, cross-court pass to Renita Buys as time was winding down. Buys, who had not made a field goal all night, drained a four-foot shot with two seconds remaining to deliver a 40-38 victory to the E-Gals.
After losing two decisive games to SWC during the regular season, H-BC coach Tom Goehle was happy his team took the E-Gals to the limit Tuesday. On the other hand, coming so close to advancing was equally disappointing to the Patriot mentor.
"It's kind of a bitter-sweet thing. The girls played so well in this game, and now they have to live with the fact that it was their last game," he said.
The Patriots did turn in a strong performance against SWC.
The E-Gals led 10-8 after eight minutes of play before H-BC gained a 20-18 edge by halftime.
SWC extended its lead to four points during the third quarter, but H-BC drained 12 of 14 free throws during the fourth while outscoring SWC 14-10 to knot the score at 38.
"It probably was one of the best high school basketball games you'll ever see," Goehle said. "I was really pleased and proud of our girls. I don't think they could have played any better than they did."
Erin Boeve led H-BC with 13 points and seven rebounds. Becky Broesder, Shanna Tilstra passed for three assists each. Cassi Tilstra produced three steals.
H-BC ends the season with an 11-13 mark.
Box score
C.Tilstra 1 0 1-2 3, Olson 0 0 0-0 0, Sandstede 0 0 0-0 0, Rentschler 1 0 2-2 4, S.Tilstra 1 0 6-6 8, Broesder 3 0 0-0 6, DeNoble 1 0 0-0 2, Boeve 5 0 3-6 13, Arp 1 0 0-0 2.
Team statistics
H-BC: 13 of 40 field goals (33 percent), 12 of 16 free throws (75 percent), 21 rebounds, 10 turnovers.
SWC: 16 of 35 field goals (46 percent), seven of 15 free throws (47 percent), 20 rebounds, 12 turnovers.