By Mark HaugenThe good news for Hills-Beaver Creek’s girls basketball team last week was that Cassi Tilstra went over the 1,000-point career scoring milestone, but the bad news is the Patriots lost both games.H-BC fell 53-49 to Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster on Tuesday night and 54-38 to Fulda on Thursday.The Patriots play Monday and Tuesday in the Albert Lea Tournament.SV-RL-B 53, H-BC 49Tilstra hit the 1,000 mark with a 3-pointer early in the game and finished with 21 points. Her 1,000-point stat is even more impressive when combined with the more than 500 career assists she has.But while H-BC jumped to a 16-12 lead after the first quarter, the second quarter did not go as well. The Patriots were outscored 21-8 in the second and trailed 33-24 at halftime.Fulda 54, H-BC 38Hills-Beaver Creek came out cold and never recovered from the 12-4 first-quarter deficit.Tilstra led with 15 points and six assists. Kelly Mulder pulled down nine rebounds.The Patriots shot only 29 percent from the field and 3-17 from the 3-point arc."We played very well defensively in the half-court; however, we did a poor job keeping them off the offensive boards and in our transition defense," Coach Tom Goehle said. "The shooting will come around in due time."The "B" team lost 43-36 and is 4-5 on the year.H-BC Box ScoreRozeboom 2 1-2 5, Fransman 1 0-1 2, Feucht 3 0-0 6, Fink 0 2 0-0 6, Helgeson 0 0-0 0, C. Tilstra 4 1 4-6 15, Roozenboom 0 0-0 0, Hoyme 0 0-0 0, Mulder 1 1-3 4.Team Totals:2pt shooting: H-BC 11-38 for 28.9 percent, F 21-49 for 42.9 percent. 3-pt shooting: H-BC 3-17 for 17.6 percent, F 2-9 for 22.2 percent. Rebounds: H-BC 34 (Mulder 9, C. Tilstra 7, Fransman 6), F 45. Blocks: H-BC 6 (Mulder 4), F 3. Steals: H-BC 9 (Tilstra 3). TO: H-BC 13, F 15. Assists: H-BC 11 (Tilstra 6).

By Lexi MooreTomorrow is Christmas Eve, which brings an end to the busy holiday shopping season. Hills, Beaver Creek and Steen residents are reminded there are plenty of options for last-minute gifts in the area, even on Christmas Eve.Makin’ Waves in downtown Hills will remain open on Christmas Eve until 2 p.m. Gift certificates can be purchased and used for massages, manicures, pedicures, tanning and hair services. Hair products are available.The doors at Beaver Creek Lumber will stay open for customers until noon on Friday. The staff there can help shoppers find a last minute gift, and gift certificates are available as well.To satisfy the stomachs of those on Christmas lists the Hills Locker will be open until 1 p.m. In addition to gift certificates, prepackaged meat sticks and jerky make great stocking stuffers.The Tuff Memorial Home annual cookbooks are currently available at the Tuff Home in Hills. The books are on display inside the front door and are available all day Christmas Eve. Administrators at the Tuff Home ask that payments, in the form of cash or checks, are left in the mail slot by the door.To give the gift of gas this Christmas, head to Rauk’s Convenience Store in Beaver Creek for a Shell gas gift card. Rauk’s will be open until 6 p.m. Friday.Orv and Bonnie Sundem, Hills, will keep the Sundem Oil doors open until 4 p.m. They have Christmas cards, candy and a variety of creative gifts on their shelves.Holly Mulder with Country Flowers and Gifts will be available until 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. To give the gift of fresh or silk flowers, candles and arrangements call Holly at 855-2215 for a Christmas Eve appointment.

By Lexi MooreDuring the holidays the charitable spirit shines brighter than the rest of the year, but for Hills resident Catherine Fikse that spirit begins shining in September.Catherine uses her sewing talents to help children stay warm. Thursday she traveled to the Center of Hope in Sioux Falls to distribute 45 handmade fleece blankets to children that visit the center.She began sewing the blankets in September and finished in early December. Although she has donated blankets in the past, this was the first year Catherine was able to give the children the blankets herself."Those kids were really excited," she said. "They were all holding out their arms for blankets."The Center of Hope is a resource for families in the Sioux Falls area who need help meeting their needs. The center provides winter clothing, bicycles for transportation to work and Internet and telephone access for families.In addition, families receives spiritual support by building relationships through ministries.Fred Wilgenburg, who heads up Urban Outreach/Native American Indian Ministries, describes Center for Hope as "a frontline ministry that meets people right where they are."

By Mark HaugenThe Ellsworth boys basketball team pushed its record back to the .500 mark with two wins last week.The Panthers beat Plankinton, S.D., 65-43 in Mitchell, S.D., on Tuesday night and downed Lake Benton 76-56 in Ellsworth on Thursday.Ellsworth, 3-3, goes back to Mitchell on Dec. 27 to play Geddes, S.D., and then plays there on Dec. 28.Ellsworth 65, Plankinton 43The Panthers cruised to a 19-9 first-quarter lead and kept their distance the rest of the way.Freshman Cody Schilling notched a triple-double, scoring 17 points with 14 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals. The hottest shooting hand belonged to Aaron VanDerStoep who scored 20, including four of six on 3-pointers."I thought we played pretty well, but we got a little ragged in the second half," Coach Ken Kvaale said. "We started in the press right away and took an 8-0 lead and seemed to be in control from there."Ellsworth 76, Lake Benton 56Ellsworth pulled away from a 20-20 tie at the end of the first quarter to record the victory.Schilling poured in 30 points and grabbed 20 rebounds for the Panthers. VanDerStoep added 17 points and five assists, while Ben Herman had 13 points and nine rebounds.

By Mark HaugenAdrian split a pair of road games last week, losing 55-46 to Edgerton and bouncing back with a 60-49 victory over Lake Benton.The Dragons are off until Jan. 4 when they travel to Minneota.Adrian 60, Lake Benton 49The Dragons raised their record to 4-3 and 3-1 in the Red Rock Conference.Trailing 15-12 after the first quarter, the Dragons outscored the Bobcats 16-8 in the second and took a 28-23 halftime lead they never relinquished.Brett Block paced Adrian with 21 points.Edgerton 55, Adrian 46The Dragons held a 14-10 first-quarter advantage but were outscored 17-8 in the second as Edgerton pulled out the conference victory.Casey Knips tossed in 20 points on 8-12 shooting and had 14 rebounds and blocked four shots for Adrian. Brad Brake was good for 13 points and eight rebounds.Adrian Box ScoreBlock 2 1 1-2 8, Knips 8 4-10 20, Brake 4 5-6 13, Weidert 0 0-0 0, Klaassen 0 1 0-0 0, Stover 1 0-0 2, Tjepkes 0 1 0-0 3, Hakeen 0 0-0 0, Swayze 0 0-0 0, Lonneman 0 0-1 0.Team Totals2-pt shooting: A 15-36, E 14-33. 3-pt shooting: A 2-11, E 3-12. Rebounds: A 34, E 22. Assists: A 14 (Block 5, Weidert 5), E 15. Steals: A 5, E 8. Turnovers: A 18, E 11. Blocks: A 5, E 1.

By Mark HaugenThe road wasn’t kind to the Luverne girls hockey team last week as they dropped two games.The Cardinals lost 6-1 to Mankato West on Saturday and were edged 6-5 by Marshall.Luverne fell to 6-5 overall and 2-1 in the Southwest Conference. The Cardinals will compete in the Sertoma Shootout in Dodge Dec. 27-29.Mankato West 6, Luverne 1Shots on goal were few and goals were even fewer as the Cardinals dropped a road game.Luverne managed only six shots in the first period to West’s 22, and the drought continued into the second period when the Cardinals had only four. They finished the game with 19 shots and Mankato West peppered the goal with 57. Luverne goalie Sarah Schneekloth stopped 51 of them.After a scoreless first period, West scored first, hitting the net 3:26 into the second period. Luverne’s Natalie Domagala answered with an assist from freshman Stephanie Steensma about three minutes later. But it was all Mankato after that.Mankato went ahead with a late goal in the second and added four more in the third for the victory.Marshall 6, Luverne 5The Cardinals had three third-period goals but came up one short in the Southwest Conference match.Domagala put Luverne on top first with an unassisted power-play goal at 13:48 of the first period, but Marshall responded with three goals in the period.Domagala pulled the Cardinals within 3-2 with an assist from Sadie Dietrich at 9:59 of the second. Marshall came back with a goal at 3:09 to go into the break ahead 4-2.Domagala hit her the hat trick with a goal to open the third, but Marshall iced the win with two more goals of their own.Luverne’s comeback fell short as Dietrich scored twice on Domagala assists later in the third.Schneekloth stopped 37 shots.

By Mark HaugenLuverne made its mark on each apparatus to secure a gymnastics victory over Pipestone Area on Tuesday night in Luverne, 129.075-122.475.The all-around title went to Pipestone’s Felisha Lustfield, but Luverne took the next three places with Courtney Fodness, Tori Arends and Brit Mulder going 2-3-4, respectively.Fodness won the beam, scoring 8.1, while Mulder took first on the floor exercise with an 8.675. Arends placed second on the bars and second in the vault.Luverne 129.075, PA 122.475Luverne scoresBars: 2, Tori Arends, 8.1; 3, Courtney Fodness, 7.8; 4, Brit Mulder, 7.7.Beam: 1, Fodness, 8.1; 3, Brit Boeve, 7.55.Floor: 1, Mulder, 8.675; 3, Boeve, 8.55.Vault: 2, Arends, 8.95; 4, Boeve, 8.75.All-around: 2, Fodness, 32.4; 3, Arends, 32.15; 4, Mulder, 31.825.

By Mark HaugenThe Cardinals turned in a consistent performance Friday night and notched their second win in a row, beating Redwood Valley 56-46 in Luverne.Luverne wasn’t as fortunate on Tuesday night as they ran into another consistent team and lost 67-50 to JCC in Luverne.Luverne, 2-7, plays at Westbrook-Walnut Grove on Thursday.Luverne 56, Redwood Valley 46The Cardinals’ Maggie Kuhlman had the hot hand from outside, hitting four 3-pointers on her way to tallying 26 points on the night. The 5-6 junior also had five assists, four rebounds and two steals.Samantha Gacke had 11 points and led with eight rebounds."We played one of our most consistent games of the season," Coach Jason Phelps said. "We had very few scoring droughts and had a season low in turnovers (15)."Luverne trailed 12-10 after the first quarter and pulled to a 28-22 halftime lead it never relinquished. The Cardinals outrebounded Redwood Valley 26-18."We got a very good offensive effort from Maggie and a well-rounded game from Samantha," he said. "It was a very good team effort defensively and rebounding. It was nice to get a couple of wins in a row and hopefully build some confidence on the past week."Luverne Box ScoreHeitkamp 1 0-0 2, Nieuwboer 2 3-5 7, Snyder 4 0-1 8, Petersen 0 0-2 0, Kuhlman 5 4 4-8 26, Gacke 3 5-7 11, Evans 1 0-0 2, Schneekloth 0 0-0 0.Team Totals:2-pt shooting: L 16-40 for 40 percent. 3-pt shooting: 4-8 for 50 percent. Rebounds: L 26 (Gacke 8, Nieuwboer 6). Assists: L 10 (Kuhlman 5, Nieuwboer 4). Steals: L 12 (Snyder 5). Blocks: L 1 (Snyder).JCC 67, Luverne 50Luverne took a 13-12 first-quarter lead but couldn’t hold it as they trailed 39-32 at halftime.Kuhlman scored 14 points for Luverne, had five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Gacke netted 13 and pulled down seven boards.We had trouble stopping a very balanced attack by JCC," Phelps said.JCC had four players in double figures."We got behind after a scoring drought in the second quarter and could never get enough defensive stops to get back into the game."We had a balanced attack ourselves but couldn’t outscore them after falling behind. We gave up too many second chance points, especially in the second half."Luverne Box ScoreHeitkamp 2 0-0 4, Nieuwboer 1 0-0 2, Snyder 1 4-44 4, Petersen 1 0-2 2, Kuhlman 5 1 1-5 14, Gacke 6 1-4 13, Evans 2 5-6 9, Schneekloth 0 0-0 0.Team Totals:2-pt shooting: L 18-42 for 42.9 percent. 3-pt shooting: L 1-9 for 11.1 percent. Rebounds: L 25 (Gacke 7, Kuhlman 5, Heitkamp 5). Steals: L 9 (Kuhlman 4). TO: L 16.

Winter vacation activitiesThe Luverne Child Guide Program is coming up with supervised activities to keep your kids busy during some of their Christmas days off.
On Tuesday, Dec. 28, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. there will be open swimming at the Rock County Pool. All you have to do is bring a towel and swimsuit.All parents and siblings of children in grades K-5 are invited to participate.If a child younger than 5 years of age would like to participate, an adult must accompany them.
On Wednesday, Dec. 29, activities will be held at the Luverne Elementary Gym from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.Again, kids in grades K-5 are welcome to attend, along with their families.Participants must be sure to wear appropriate gym shoes.
Thursday, Dec.30, will be the final activity day, at the Blue Mound Ice Arena.Skating and skate rental is all included. The concession stand will be open for snacks, but you will have to bring you own money for the treats.All the activities are free and are sponsored by the Luverne Child Guide Program and the Luverne Public Schools.Have you checked out the new Palace Web site?Events at the Palace Theatre can now be found on the Web at their own Web site.Type in www.palacetheatre.us and you will find which event is playing at the Palace Theatre, along with the show times.Other buttons on the site include Events, Movies, BMAT, and a list of the Blue Mound Area Board members and how to contact them.A history button will also give you a brief story of the Palace, from its construction in 1915 to its most recent remodeling in 1989 and the grand opening of the Palace Theatre Museum, also in 1989.The site was created by Michelle Riddle, a senior graphics arts student in Bill Thompson’s graphic arts class in Luverne.The site was created as part of an independent study project.If you would go to the Web site today, you would find out that the movie "Polar Express" is currently showing through Dec. 30.Other movies scheduled for the
January: "National Treasure," starring Nicholas Cage.
February: "The Incredibles"And if you want to make plans for this summer, you can look forward to the Fabulous Talismen Goodtime Show presenting "Rockin’ In Rock County."Four MAT scholarships availableFour high school juniors in the state of Minnesota will be receiving $1,000 scholarships from the Minnesota Association of Townships.MAT is a "nonprofit corporation representing Minnesota townships while promoting an understanding of the heritage and future of township government," according to their press release.MAT provides the town government as well as town officers with tools to foster effective town government, as well as acting as a liaison between other local government officials to encourage sustained intergovernmental cooperation.Intergovernmental cooperation would be refreshing around here.All students currently enrolled in the 11th grade who attend a Minnesota public, private or parochial high school or a home study program and who plan to further their education at a college, university, or vocational school are eligible for the program.Applicants must write an essay on this year’s topic, "There is one major difference in how the property tax levies are setbetween townships and other local units of government (schooldistricts, cities and counties). Identify the difference anddescribe why each form works for their particular citizenry. Also explain the advantage of the levy process for each typeof government."For more information, visit the MAT Web site at www.mntownships.org.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com