By Lori EhdeRock County and the school districts of Hills-Beaver Creek and Luverne are working together to help mentally ill children.In a meeting of Rock County representatives and Luverne School Board members, local officials agreed to look into jointly hiring a counselor to deal exclusively with what they see as a worsening condition."I’m here to tell you the need is growing. It’s really becoming a focus for us. It’s a problem," Luverne Superintendent Vince Schaefer said at the start of the Oct. 9 meeting."The goal would be to assist those in need with early intervention, and the end goal would be prevention."The person would ideally be a licensed mental health social worker specializing in child mental health. The person would be shared by the two districts and Rock County Family Services, and he or she would deal specifically with issues more serious than current school counselors typically deal with.Funding sources are being explored, but the person’s salary would likely be paid from the two districts’ special education reiumbursements and from grants.Schools have typically not been involved in children’s mental health issues, but Schaefer said mental illness is affecting not only the struggling student, but the teachers and classrooms as well. "If you aren’t healthy — mentally or physically — school isn’t going to work for you," Schaefer said."We have a number of kids who are unable to function within the walls of school and within society for that matter."He said some high school students in particular are requiring significant attention, and had those same students been helped earlier on, their problems likely wouldn’t have been so severe.Neither school district can afford to hire right now, but Schaefer said it’s reached the point where paying an extra salary to help with prevention will pay off in the end."We’re not equipped to deal with mental health in public schools," Schaefer said. "Our umbrella is pretty wide, but it’s only as wide as we can afford. … I’d say it’s to a point where we can’t afford not to."The county and school agreed that collaborating on the hiring is one way to make the position affordable.H-BC School Board members met with county officials Monday night and they also supported the idea of a shared child mental health specialist.Randy Ehlers, director of Rock County Family Services presented information at meetings with both districts.He explained that the schools currently have an arrangement with the county for mental health services, but he agreed that it’s time for a change."This isn’t to imply that the current system isn’t working," he said. "This is seen as kind of a next step."The Rock County Commissioners will hear more about the position at their next meeting. If all parties formally agree to go forward, the next step would be to set up the funding arrangement and seek funding sources.

By Sara StrongWith a separate access road possible for the new hospital and clinic, Veterans Drive residents are hoping that 500 extra vehicles won’t be passing through their neighborhood when the project is finished in 2005.Those neighbors, project architects and the Luverne Planning Commission got together for a public hearing, which ended with the Planning Commission recommending approval of the plat as it’s now drawn.The preliminary plat of the Sioux Valley addition to the city was passed with the conditions that more meetings and communication take place with residents, and that the city and county pursue an appeal to the Minnesota Department of Transportation to change the access. At press time Wednesday, representatives of the city, county, MnDOT and Sioux Valley were meeting to try to resolve the driveway issue.Sioux Valley designed the hospital around what it was told was the only access point to the front of the hospital — Veterans Drive.After a new, separate request for a driveway (not a street), MnDOT said it would allow a separate driveway off of Highway 75, 400 feet north of Veterans Drive. MnDOT said the driveway to two residences across the highway on the west might have to be closed if the new driveway was added 400 feet north. The city would have to create an alternate driveway for those residences.Sioux Valley has indicated that an access more than 300 feet north would be problematic for the hospital. Sioux Valley prefers the orientation of the drive plans as they are, and considers the parking lot flow for workers, deliveries and patients ideal as it stands.It designed its focal point with the access from Veterans Drive because it was told that it couldn’t have one directly off of Highway 75.Administrator Greg LaFond said, "It’s unfortunate that more communication didn’t occur between everyone 10 months ago."Waiting until it was already planned, without pushing for more options is what the residents say bothers them.Joel Herman said, "Is it too late to change anything now? What about the millions the county and city are putting into the project? I hope Sioux Valley hasn’t forgotten about that."A possible extension of Christensen Drive and the hospital asking its 250 or more employees not to use Veterans Drive could alleviate some traffic.Parnell Thorson said the city should also consider that it will cost between $75,000 to $100,000 in increased wear on the street and loss in revenue from selling at least two more lots if there’s a driveway through them.Thorson said, "We should remember that Sioux Valley is building with the intent of expanding — there could be more than 500 cars a day there."He said Veterans Drive is narrow and not designed for more than residential traffic.The residents intend to express their opinions to the Luverne City Council, which has the final approval authority over the plat.In other business Monday, the Planning Commission:oAuthorized the creation of a packet on rental housing inspections that will be up for final approval at an upcoming Planning Commission meeting.The property maintenance issue in rental housing has been up for discussion before, and involves a base licensing fee for rental units, renewable annually.Housing and Urban Development properties, assisted living facilities, or others that are already inspected and licensed won’t be a part of the new program, if it’s finalized.The start of it tentatively involves a voluntary report form to be filled out by landlords. Some properties will be inspected by the city fire inspector/building inspector based on those reports. However, all rental properties will be subject to eventual, scheduled inspection for health and safety violations.The inspector will respond separately to tenant complaints.Violations will be subject to fines through the form of an administrative citation, which has an appeals process if landlords disagree.The cost to property owners starts at $25, with a declining scale for more units. For example, the annual fee for a 30-unit apartment complex would be $125.

By Lori EhdeLocal law enforcement put the Beaver Creek elementary school in "lock down" status Wednesday when Rock County authorities were notified a South Dakota prison escapee was headed that way.The Hills-Beaver Creek School District learned Wednesday morning that 29-year-old Jason Heasley was potentially headed to Beaver Creek.Facing drug and burglary charges, Heasley is reportedly considered armed and dangerous and has been missing from the Beadle County jail in Huron, S.D., since late last week.Authorities wouldn’t confirm or deny whether Heasley has a child attending the Beaver Creek school, but school personnel were given good reason to lock the building down.According to information from the Rock County Attorney’s Office, students in the building weren’t considered to be in immediate danger, but authorities were placed at each entrance.As of this writing, it’s unknown whether Heasley made an appearance at the school, but deputies were on hand to provide secure transfer of students from the building to buses or other transportation at the end of the day.Heasley is believed to be driving a stolen two-door, black, 1995 Oldsmobile cutlass supreme. It has South Dakota license plates of 1BX713.

By John RittenhouseThe Adrian and Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton cross country teams made big impacts at the Red Rock Conference meet in Slayton Tuesday.The Adrian girls won their first RRC team title in history, nipping H-BC-E-E 34-41 for the honor.Southwest Christian won the boys’ championship with 21 points, topping second-place Adrian (61) and third-place H-BC-E-E (85).Along with team success, Adrian and H-BC-E-E won individual championships and a total of 10 athletes from both programs made the All-RRC rosters.Leading the Adrian girls to their first conference championship as a team was Morgan Lynn, who won the varsity race with a time of 15:55.Since the Top 10 individuals in varsity competition make the all-conference team, Lynn and teammates McCall Heitkamp, Kelly Banck and Krissi Thier earned spots on the All-RRC squad. Heitkamp placed fifth in 17:06, Banck seventh in 17:12 and Thier 10th in 17:22.Megan Henning rounded out Adrian’s team performance by placing 16th in 17:18. Sarah Kruger ran a 20:13 without impacting the scoring.The H-BC-E-E girls fielded a varsity team for the first time at the RRC meet, and the Patriots ran well to place second while locking up four All-RRC positions.Mya Mann placed fourth in 17:02, Cassi Tilstra sixth in 17:12, Amanda Tilstra eighth in 17:14 and Jill Weitgenant ninth in 17:19 to make the All-RRC squad for the Patriots.Rayna Sandoval placed 20th in 18:35 to round out the team effort.No Adrian boys made the All-RRC team during their second-place performance as a team.Brandon Bullerman and Lee Stover, Paul Honermann and Chad Janssen placed 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th with respective 18:19, 18:32, 18:32 and 18:37 times. Pete Jensen placed 16th in 19:38 to pad Adrian’s team tally.Ethan Wieneke and Aaron Mormann placed 27th and 29th with respective 19:38 and 20:10 times without impacting the scoring for AHS.Tyler Bush and Kale Wiertzema cracked the All-RRC roster for the H-BC-E-E boys. Bush won the individual title with a time of 16:53. Wiertzema placed eighth in 17:54.Todd Alberty, Derek Haak and John Sandbulte finished 24th, 25th and 31st with respective 19:29, 19:32 and 20:49 times for the Patriots.Here is a look at the team scores and the rest of the individual efforts turned in by AHS and H-BC-E-E runners during the meet.Girls’ standings: Adrian 34, H-BC-E-E 41, Murray County Central 67, Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin 71.Boys’ standings: SWC 21, Adrian 61, H-BC-E-E 85, MCC 107, ML-B-O 111, Southwest United 125.Junior varsity boysAdrian: Kyle Knips, second, 15:52; David Brake, third, 16:23; Kelly Seeman, fourth, 16:32; Dustin Lonneman, fifth, 16:37; Brad Brake, eighth, 16:49; Eldon Vaselaar, 10th, 17:38; Michal Berrie, 13th, 18:31; Trent Lutmer, 14th, 19:46.H-BC-E-E: Dustin Verhey, first, 15:31; Adam Finke, sixth, 16:39; Devin DeBoer, seventh, 16:44; Tom Janssen, ninth, 17:15; Jared Drenth, 11th, 17:53; Paul DeLeon, 12th, 18:30.Junior high boysAdrian: Jarod Boltjes, first, 6:28; Ross Wieneke, second, 6:29; Kyle Henning, third, 6:44; Collin Lynn, fourth, 6:45; Jordan Pater, 14th, 7:17; Zach Runia, 15th, 7:38; Jared Altman, 18th, 7:47.H-BC-E-E: Cody Penning, ninth, 6:56; Grant Hoogendoorn, 10th, 7:01; Luke Tiesler, 12th, 7:12; Stephan Harsma, 13th, 7:13; Derek Drenth, 19th, 7:50; B.J. Kruse, 23rd, 8:03.Junior high girlsAdrian: Anna Sauer, seventh, 8:00.

By John RittenhouseThe Ellsworth volleyball team completed 12-12 regular season play by competing at three events since last Thursday.The Panthers ended a 2-5 Camden Conference season by dropping five-game matches to Lakeview in Ellsworth Thursday and to Canby in Canby Tuesday.Ellsworth was at its best during the Harris-Lake Park Tournament in Lake Park, Iowa, Saturday, going 3-0 and winning the event.The Panthers have drawn the fifth seed for the South Section 3A Tournament and will take on No. 4 Edgerton in the quarterfinals at the Luverne Elementary School Friday, Oct. 24. The match will be played 25 minutes after a 6 p.m. contest between Hills-Beaver Creek and Adrian.Canby 3, Ellsworth 2The Panthers ended the regular season with a disappointing loss to the Lancers in Canby Tuesday.Ellsworth was in command after winning two of the first three games of the match, but Canby took Games 4 and 5 to steal a victory."We just had a tough time keeping the ball in play," said Panther coach Jason Langland. "We had a lot of hitting errors in this match."Langland thought his Panthers might come away with a win when they led 24-23 late in Game 4, but the Lancers scored the next three points to pull out a 26-24 victory. Canby strolled to a 15-9 win in the fifth game to complete the comeback.Ellsworth notched a 25-21 win in the opener before falling 25-10 in Game 2. The Panthers topped the Lancers 25-22 in the third game.Laurel Drenth, who was 15 of 15 serving with three aces, had six kills and four blocks for the Panthers. Brittney Kramer, who had four blocks, led EHS with 11 kills.Amanda Deutsch led the Panthers with 12 digs. She also recorded six kills. Lynette Drenth and Marla Groen contributed eight and five set assists to the cause respectively. Amy Timmer chipped in eight digs.H-LP tourneyThe Panthers went 3-0 to win the championship during Saturday’s tournament in Lake Park, Iowa.Ellsworth won six of seven games during the four-team, round-robin event.Ellsworth’s performance was a nice surprise for Panther coach Langland, who was unsure how his players would respond after dropping a five-game home match to Lakeview two days earlier."The girls played really well. After losing a heart-breaking match to Lakeview, it was nice to win three straight matches," he said.Ellsworth opened the tournament by sweeping a two-game match from Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster. The Panthers won both games by 21-18 tallies.Timmer was 11 of 12 serving with one ace in the opener. Amy Tiesler led EHS with six kills, while Laurel Drenth and Kramer had three kills and two blocks each. Drenth also led the Panthers with four digs in the match.Lynette Drenth and Groen charted three set assists each in the opener.The Panthers bested H-LP in a three-game match in the second round.Ellsworth won 21-18 in Game 1 before the hosts knotted the match with a 21-19 win in the second game. The Panthers prevailed 15-5 in the finale.Deusch, who led the Panthers with six digs in the match, completed 18 of 18 serves with one ace. Tiesler was 11 of 11 serving with one ace.Laurel Drenth had six kills and two blocks, Tiesler five kills and Kramer four kills and two blocks against the host school.The Panthers completed the tournament by posting 21-16 and 25-23 wins against Bethany Christian.Deutsch was 11 of 13 serving with six aces and led the Panthers with six digs in the finale. Kramer was six of eight serving with three aces.Tiesler and Laurel Drenth charted four kills each for the winners. Groen recorded seven set assists.Lakeview 3,Ellsworth 2The Lakers and Panthers traded blows for five games before visiting Lakeveiw pulled out a 3-2 win in Ellsworth Thursday.It looked like Ellsworth’s home finale would be a successful one when they bounced back from a loss in Game 1 to take the next two games.Lakeview, however, played well on defense the entire night and it enabled the Lakers to win the match in five games."The teams were pretty evenly matched, but it was their defense that won the match for them," said Panther coach Langland. "They didn’t hit the ball at us much. They just played good defense."The Lakers gained the upper hand early in Game 1 by posting a 25-19 win before Ellsworth came storming back to notch 25-20 and 26-24 victories in Games 2 and 3.Lakeview evened the match at two games each with a 25-11 win in Game 4 before posting a 15-11 victory in the fifth game.Laurel Drenth led EHS at the net with 18 kills and 12 blocks. Kramer added 12 kills and six blocks.Deutsch completed 24 of 26 serves with two aces and led the Panthers with 12 digs. Groen and Lynette Drenth charted 13 and nine set assists for Ellsworth.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne volleyball team posted one victory while competing in three outings since last Thursday.Luverne dropped a Southwest Conference match to Worthington at home Thursday before completing a 1-5 league campaign by losing a match in Pipestone Tuesday.Luverne went 1-5 during the Hull Western Christian Tournament in Hull, Iowa, Saturday, finishing ninth in a 10-team field.The 10-16-1 Cardinals complete the regular season by hosting Southwest Christian Monday.Pipestone 3, Luverne 0The Cardinals were unable to upset the Arrows when the teams squared off in a SWC clash in Pipestone Tuesday.Pipestone took advantage of openings the Cardinals were giving up defensively in the match while rolling to 25-15, 25-19 and 25-17 wins."Pipestone took advantage of our open spots on the floor," said Cardinal coach Lori Jacobs. "They saw the open spots and put the ball there. We didn’t cover the floor very well."Luverne’s Brittney Williams reached a milestone during the match by recording her 1,000th career ace set during the second game of the night. Williams, who had eight ace sets during the match, completed 11 of 13 serves with three aces and eight points.Chelsea Park, who had five ace sets, was six of six serving with three points and one ace. Cassie Pap was eight of nine at the line with three points and one a ace.Pap had three kills, two blocks and one ace tip at the net, while Stephanie Morgan added three kills, five blocks and one ace tip. Ashley Heitkamp recorded four blocks for the Cards.HWC tourneyLuverne went 1-5 and placed ninth during Saturday’s tournament in Hull, Iowa.The Cardinals struggled while losing four straight 2-0 decisions in pool play, but they ended the day on a positive note by winning a one-game match against Central Minnesota Christian in battle for ninth and 10th place."There were some strong teams there, but we played pretty well," said Cardinal coach Jacobs. "We could have done better. Our serving (93 percent) was excellent. We just need to work on hitting and passing some more."Luverne met the host team in the first round and dropped 21-18 and 21-15 decisions.Red Oak toppled the Cardinals by 21-12 and 21-13 scores in the second round, and Pella bested LHS by 21-13 and 21-19 tallies in the third round. West Monona saddled the Cards with a pair of 21-16 setbacks in the final round of pool play.Luverne recovered from its pool losses to best CMC 21-11 and finish ninth in the field.Pap (13 kills and seven blocks), Morgan (18 blocks and eight kills) and Heitkamp (nine blocks) had good tournaments at the net for LHS.Traci Evans (20 of 21 with 14 points), Heitkamp (21 of 22 with 13 points and two aces), Tera Boomgaarden (25 of 27 with 13 points and five aces) and Pap (25 of 27 with 13 points and four aces) served well for the Cards.Williams charted 34 set assists during the tournament.Worthington 3,Luverne 2The Cardinals let a possible conference win slip away when they entertained the Trojans Thursday.Luverne sported a 2-1 lead three games into the match, but Worthington rallied to post come-from-behind wins in Games 4 and 5 to prevail in a five-game match.Coming off a convincing 25-13 victory in Game 3, the Cardinals appeared to be in good shape when a kill by Callen Bosshart gave the hosts an 11-6 cushion in the fourth game.Worthington, however, put together a 7-1 surge to move in front 13-12 before the Cards regained the lead at 18-16 behind a block from Heitkamp.Luverne still was in a position to win the match when the score was tied at 22, but the Trojans outscored the Cards 3-1 the rest of the tilt to prevail 25-23 and force a fifth game.The Cardinals dominated the early stages of the finale and led 10-4 after Evans served a point.Luverne was two points away from winning the match when it sported a 13-10 advantage as the game progressed. Worthington, however, scored the next five points to ice a 15-13 victory.Game 1 was a tight battle that featured the teams being deadlocked at 17.Luverne gained some separation at the point by going on a 7-2 run capped by a service point from Maggie Kuhlman, and the Cards prevailed 25-20 when Boomgaarden delivered a game-clinching kill.Any momentum the Cards gained by winning the opener was lost in Game 2, when the Trojans never trailed by coasting to a 25-12 win.Game 3 was tied at seven when Luverne put together a 14-2 run that ended with Boomgaarden serving an ace for a 21-9 lead.Both teams scored four points the rest of the way as Luverne locked up a 25-13 victory.Morgan led the Cards with nine blocks and eight kills during the match, while Williams charted 26 set assists.Boomgaarden served 13 points and two aces, while Pap and Kuhlman served eight and six points respectively.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne football team lost its first home game of the season when Redwood Valley used a second-half surge to nip the Cardinals 33-30 Friday.Luverne came from behind twice in the first half to take a 23-13 lead into the intermission, but RWV scored 20 points with its first three possessions of the second half to become the first team to beat the Cardinals in Luverne this year.Luverne lost the ball on downs during its first possession of the second half, giving RWV the ball on its own 32-yard line.The visiting Cardinals put together a 13-play, 68-yard drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown run from running back Scott Leopold.Leopold’s touchdown was followed by a successful extra point that trimmed Luverne’s lead to three points (23-20) with 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter.The RWV defense forced Luverne to punt four plays later, and it gave the visitors excellent field position on the LHS 43.RWV covered the 43 yards in nine plays with Blake Hagert running nine yards for a touchdown with 7:59 left to play in the fourth quarter. Another successful extra-point gave RWV a 27-23 lead.The game’s momentum favored RWV at the point, but Luverne swung the momentum in its favor 21 seconds later.Sophomore quarterback Nick Heronimus, who completed 10 of 19 passes for 269 yards, connected with senior receiver Scott Pick for a 76-yard touchdown pass on the first play of Luverne’s ensuing offensive possession.When Adam Kurtz added the extra point, Luverne regained the lead at 30-27 with 7:38 remaining in the game.RWV, however, responded to the challenge with an impressive drive that seemed to take the life out of the Cardinals.After taking over on its own 23, RWV marched 77 yards in 10 plays with Bo Hagert capping the advance with a five-yard touchdown run with 4:18 remaining. RWV missed the extra-point attempt, leaving it with a 33-30 cushion.Luverne possessed the ball two more times in the game, but the Cards couldn’t produce any points.The Cardinals did pick up a first down when RWV was flagged for a pass interference penalty during the possession following Bo Hagert’s touchdown, but one sack and two penalties on LHS forced the Cardinals to punt moments later.RWV returned the punt to the LHS 11, but the Cardinal defense stopped RWV on downs on the two-yard line with 1:31 left to play.On the second play of Luverne’s next possession, Heronimus was flushed out of the pocket and fumbled as he was being tackled. RWV’s Seth Junker recovered the loose ball on the LHS 13 with 1:15 remaining, and it ran the rest of the time off the clock.Turnovers played a big role in the first half, when the teams scored a combined 36 points.RWV received the opening kick and moved the ball from its own 10 to the LHS five before losing the ball on downs.Three plays later, RWV’s Travis Fluck picked off a pass by Luverne’s Andy Stegemann and returned it seven yards for a touchdown. Luverne’s Jared Pick intercepted a two-point conversion pass, leaving RWV with a 6-0 lead at the 4:56 mark of the first quarter.Luverne found itself in a hole when Tyler Elbers slipped fielding the ensuing kickoff and was ruled down on the Cardinal three-yard line.The Cardinals, however, surprised RWV when Heronimus dropped back to pass on the first play of the possession and delivered a 97-yard touchdown strike to Ben Cornish. Luverne missed the extra-point, leaving the score knotted at six with 4:36 remaining in the opening quarter.Luverne created another big play when defender Brad Herman picked off a pass on the first play of RWV’s next possession, giving the ball to the LHS offense on the RWV 43.Two penalties on the visitors helped the Cards move the ball to the 12, but Luverne lost three yards in three plays before Kurtz booted a 31-yard field goal to give LHS a 9-6 lead with 2:15 left in the first quarter.RWV countered by putting together an 11-play, 74-yard drive with its next possession. Fluck capped the drive with a six-yard run at the 8:32 mark of the second quarter, and a successful extra-point gave the visitors a 13-9 lead.Luverne answered the challenge by advancing the ball 90 yards in four plays with its next possession.Fullback Mark Remme, who led the Cards with 53 rushing yards, ended the drive with a 46-yard touchdown run. Kurtz added the extra point to give the Cards a 16-13 lead with 6:45 left in the first half.Luverne was threatening to score again late in the first half before RWV intercepted a pass on its own five-yard line.RWV, however, fumbled on the first play of the ensuing possession and Luverne’s Jose Saravia recovered the ball on the two.Elbers scored on a two-yard run on the next play, and Kurtz added the extra point at the 2:36 mark of the second period to give the Cards a 23-13 halftime lead.Luverne, 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the Southwest Conference, ended the regular season by playing Jackson County Central in Jackson Wednesday, Oct. 15.The Cardinals will open the Section 3AAA Playoffs Tuesday at a site and against an opponent that has yet to be determined.Team statisticsLuverne: 60 rushing yards, 269 passing yards, 329 total yards, eight first downs, three penalties, three turnovers.RWV: 212 rushing yards, 211 passing yards, 423 total yards, 21 first downs, six penalties, two turnovers.Individual statisticsRushing: Herman 2-4, Remme 4-53, Stegemann 1-minus 4, Heronimus 5-minus 8, Elbers 4-8, Scott Goebel 1-1, Nate Siebenahler 1-6.Passing: Stegemann 0-1 for zero yards, Heronimus 10-19 for 269 yards.Receiving: Nate Stehlik 3-59, Cornish 2-105, Herman 3-27, S.Pick 2-78.Defense: Saravia one fumble recovery, Herman one interception.

By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team wrapped up a 17-5 regular season by sweeping three matches since last Thursday.The Patriots rolled to a three-game victory over Westbrook-Walnut Grove in Westbrook Thursday before posting a 3-0 home win over Lake Benton and Southwest Star Concept Monday and Tuesday respectively.H-BC, which placed third in the Red Rock Conference with a 9-9 mark, drew the No. 1 seed for the South Section 3A Tournament. The Patriots take on No. 8 Adrian in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, at the Luverne Elementary School.H-BC 3, SSC 0The Patriots swept a strong SSC team during their regular season finale in Hills Tuesday.The Quasars provided the Patriots with a stiff test, but H-BC met the challenge by notching 25-18, 25-23 and 25-17 victories."Southwest Star Concept has a good team," said Patriot coach Curt Doorneweerd. "Whenever they made a run at us, we were able to hang on. Then we made our own runs to put them away."Melinda Sandstede and Cassi Tilstra both went 17 of 18 serving during the match. Sandstede delivered two aces, while Tilstra had one ace and two kills.Erin Boeve, who was seven of seven serving with one ace, led H-BC with 22 kills and 11 blocks.Brittney Rozeboom was 12 of 12 serving with one ace for H-BC, while Amanda Olson was five of five at the line. Olson charted two kills, and Kelly Mulder had three kills and three blocks.H-BC 3, LB 0The Patriots had little trouble in disposing of the Bobcats during a three-game match played in Hills Monday.H-BC never trailed in the match and outscored Lake Benton 75-42 over three games.The Patriots scored the first three points of Game 1 and led after Boeve came up with one of her 10 blocks in the match.LB, however, rallied to trim the difference to one point (7-6) before H-BC went on a 16-6 run to open a 23-12 lead. H-BC’s Sandstede, who served three aces in the match, iced a 25-14 win with an ace delivery.H-BC scored the first three points of the second game before building a 10-3 cushion with a service point from Boeve.The Bobcats bounced back to knot the score at 13 with a 20-3 run, but the Patriots regrouped to outscore LB 12-2 the rest of the way with Boeve locking up a 25-15 victory with three consecutive service aces.Game 3 was tied at one when H-BC broke it open with an 18-7 surge capped by a service point from Diedre Vanden Bussche to take a 19-8 lead.H-BC went on to outscore the Bobcats 6-5 the rest of the game with Jessie Leenderts serving the final point of a 25-13 win.Along with leading H-BC with 10 blocks and 10 kills, Boeve completed 13 of 14 serves with three aces. Rozeboom was 15 of 15 serving with two aces.Mulder chipped in six blocks and five kills to the winning cause.H-BC 3, W-WG 0The Patriots bounced back from a tough loss two days earlier to defeat the Chargers in a three-game match played in Westbrook Thursday.Two nights after dropping out of title contention in the conference with a loss to Murray County Central, Patriot coach Doorneweerd was concerned how his team would respond Thursday.Doorneweerd’s concern proved to be baseless as the Patriots swept the Chargers by 25-16, 25-23 and 25-23 tallies."We were a little slow on the court, but I expected that coming off a tough match against MCC. We made some mental mistakes, but, all in all, it went well for us," Doorneweerd said.Boeve and Mulder sparked H-BC with their play at the net. Boeve had 15 kills and 13 blocks. Mulder charted seven kills and 10 blocks. Tilstra and Olson provided five and two kills respectively.Sandstede was 22 of 23 serving with one ace, while Rozeboom completed all 10 of her serves.

By John RittenhouseTurnovers and mistakes on special teams set the stage for the third straight loss for the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team Friday in Brewster.Taking on winless Southwest United for a Southwest Ridge Conference test, H-BC-E made things easy on the Wildcats by turning over the ball four times in the game.Miscues on special teams also figured into the mix as botched snaps and blocked kicks allowed the hosts to score nine of their 29 points in what ended as a 29-6 victory."We had a tough night," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. Turnovers and special team mistakes really hurt us."The situation turned bad for H-BC-E early in the contest.After the Wildcats forced the Patriots to punt four plays into the game, SU mounted a long drive that ended with Anthony Johnson scoring the game’s first touchdown on a one-yard plunge. A missed extra-point attempt left the hosts sporting a 6-0 lead.The first of three crucial mistakes by the Patriots allowed the Wildcats to increase their lead to 14-0 before the first period was complete.H-BC-E was attempting to punt when a SU defender blocked the kick. Another SU player recovered the loose ball and returned it to the Patriot four-yard line.Moments later, Wildcat running back Dylan Mathias scored on a one-yard run before a successful conversion pass gave the hosts a 14-point cushion.The Wildcats received excellent field position again in the second quarter when an H-BC-E fumble was recovered by the hosts and returned to the Patriot one-yard line.SU quarterback Jared Smith tossed a one-yard touchdown pass to Mark Riley moments later, and a successful extra point made it a 21-0 game.The Patriots gave the Wildcats another gift when trying to punt as the second quarter progressed.The snap from the center to the punter was dropped in the Patriot end zone. H-BC-E did recover the ball in the end zone, but SU was credited with a safety on the play to take a 23-0 lead into the intermission.SU completed a 29-point run when Smith broke loose for a 66-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. The extra-point attempt failed.H-BC-E avoided a shutout by scoring a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.Zach Wysong, who ran the ball 15 times for 110 yards in the game, scored on a 58-yard run to make the difference 29-6. The pass for a two-point conversion failed.Ellingson gave credit to SU for playing well while notching its first win of the season."They were 0-6 coming in, but we knew it was going to be a tough game because their biggest loss of the season was by 12 points. It was their homecoming game, and they came out ready to play," he said.The 4-3 Patriots capped the regular season by hosting Edgerton Wednesday, Oct. 15. H-BC-E will open the playoffs Tuesday against a team and at a site yet to be determined.Team statisticsH-BC-E: 193 rushing yards, 22 passing yards, 215 total yards, seven first downs, five penalties for 35 yards, four turnovers.SU: 287 rushing yards, 82 passing yards, 369 total yards, 10 first downs, five penalties for 25 yards, one turnover.Individual statisticsRushing: Wysong 15-110, Tom LeBoutillier 14-65, Blake Hanisch 2-14, Travis Broesder 7-4, Drew Spykerboer 2-0.Passing: Broesder 3-13 for 20 yards, Spykerboer 1-1 for two yards.Receiving: Greg Van Batavia 3-13, LeBoutillier 1-5.Defense: Wysong five tackles and one interception, LeBoutillier five tackles and two sacks, Cody Scholten 10 tackles, Brian Gacke 10 tackles and one sack.