By Jolene Farley
The Hills City Council will vote Thursday on a replacement for former mayor George Langford.

Councilmen Arlen Leenderts and Jim Jellema have volunteered to take over Langford's spot.

No other community members expressed an interest in the mayor seat, but resident Linus Svoboda volunteered for the vacated council seat, should Leenderts or Jellema be appointed mayor.

With two years remaining on a three-year term, Langford announced his intentions to move to Luverne after the sale of his home in Hills.

Langford submitted a letter dated Dec. 28, 2001, to the council tendering his resignation effective Jan. 1, 2002. Langford's resignation was accepted at January's meeting.

The city published an ad soliciting interested mayoral or council candidates, but the only response came from Leenderts, Jellema and Svoboda.

Jellema told the Crescent he's unsure why he volunteered to step in as mayor. "Just to have somebody do it," he said. "The jobÕs got to be done, and somebody's got to do it."

Svoboda was narrowly defeated in the 2000 City Council election. Dana Dahlquist and Arlen Leenderts won, beating out Svoboda by only six votes.

Svoboda has regularly attended council meetings and kept up on city business since his defeat.

Any appointments would be in effect until the next general election in November.

A change in meeting dates from Tuesday, Feb. 12, to Thursday, Feb. 21, was unrelated to the mayoral appointment, according to City Clerk Connie Wiertzema. The date was changed to maintain a quorum since two council members were unable to attend last Tuesday's meeting.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls fought off a late challenge by West Lyon to post a 45-43 basketball win in Hills Saturday.

H-BC took a five-point lead (36-31) into the fourth quarter and nearly lost it as the Lions outscored the hosts 12-9 in the final eight minutes of play.

The Patriots, however, never did lose the lead while giving WL some opportunities to move in front late in the game.

"We had a two-point lead in the final minute, but they missed two one-and-ones and three shots. We gave them plenty of chances, but they couldnÕt convert," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle.

The game ended up being a tight contest from beginning to end.

WL played its way to a 9-7 lead in the first quarter before H-BC rallied to gain a 22-21 edge at the intermission.

The Patriots outscored the Lions 14-10 in the third quarter to lead by five entering the final stanza, where turnovers and missed shots at the charity stripe (H-BC was two of 10 at the line for the game) kept WL in the contest.

"We made the game much harder than it had to be on two ends," Goehle said. "We didn't shoot free throws well at all, and we had 26 turnovers. We just didn't take care of the ball."

H-BC did make 45 percent of its field goals, which proved to be a factor in the game.

Becky Broesder led H-BC's balanced attack by scoring 12 points. Cassi Tilstra, Erin Boeve and Brittney Olson had 10 points each.

Boeve added nine rebounds and seven blocked shots to the winning cause, while Broesder chipped in eight rebounds and four steals. Jody Rentschler pulled down five rebounds for H-BC. Olson charted five assists.

Box score
B.Olson 5 0 0-0 10, Rentschler 0 1 0-2 3, Tilstra 5 0 0-0 10, Broesder 6 0 0-2 12, Rozeboom 0 0 0-0 0, DeNoble 0 0 0-0 0, Boeve 4 0 2-6 10.

Team statistics
H-BC: 21 of 47 field goals (45 percent), two of 10 free throws (20 percent), 39 rebounds, 26 turnovers.
WL: 15 of 60 field goals (25 percent), 10 of 15 free throws (67 percent), 35 rebounds, 25 turnovers.

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.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek boys have earned the No. 4 seed for the upcoming Section 3A South Boys' Basketball Tournament.

Drawing the fourth seed gives H-BC an automatic berth in the tournament's quarterfinal round, which will take place in Worthington Saturday, March 2. The Patriots play No. 5 Murray County Central in the second game of the day at 4:40 p.m.

In another game in the upper half of the bracket on March 2, No. 1 Southwest Christian will take on the winner of a play-in game between No. 8 Edgerton and No. 9 Adrian staged on Feb. 28. The winner of that game challenges SWC at 3 p.m. on March 2.

Two play-in games are slated for the bottom half of the bracket on Feb. 28.

No. 7 Red Rock Central plays No. 10 Southwest Star Concept, with the winner meeting No. 2 Fulda at 6:20 p.m. March 2 in Worthington.

No. 6 Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster takes on No. 11 Westbrook-Walnut Grove in a play-in game. The winner meets No. 3 Ellsworth at 8 p.m. in Worthington on March 2.

The tournament's semifinals will be played in Worthington on March 7, and the finals will be played at Southwest State University in Marshall March 9.

The Section 3A championship game will be played at SSU March 14.

Hills-Beaver Creek FFA members are (front row, left) Brad Haak, Jody Rentschler, Jody DeNoble, Kyle Braun, Randy Krull, Trisha Larson, (second row) Erin Boeve, Sarah Rozeboom, Jessi Wassenaar, Matt Buck, Brittney Rozeboom, Trey Van Wyhe, Trevor Knobloch, (third row) Angie Sjaarda, Melinda Sandstede, Kelly Mulder, Drew Spykerboer, Aaron Clark, Mike Bos, (fourth row) Jessica Martens, Dustin Bonnema, Aaron Blank, Wayne Baker, Lance Larson, Dylan Klarenbeek, Tyson Metzger, (back row) Matt Anderson, Melissa Fagerness, Ryan Fodness, Paul Jess, Patrick Nelson and Pete Kramer. Not pictured are Nathan Fick, LaDonna Sandstede, Robert Metzger and Chris Nuffer.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek nearly pulled off a big upset during a boys' basketball game against Southwest Christian in Edgerton Tuesday.

Taking on the three-time defending state champions on their home floor, H-BC stunned the Eagles by taking a five-point lead in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots led by three and had possession of the ball with 2:30 remaining in the game.

SWC, however, outscored the Patriots by eight points the rest of the night to pull out a 59-54 victory.

Considering the Patriots were playing without injured regulars Matt Buck and Brad Haak, the teamÕs effort was a surprising one.

If H-BC wouldn't have turned the ball over 29 times in the game, the Patriots might have knocked off the mighty Eagles.

"The kids played hard," said Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema. "We're missing two starters, but this probably is the best weÕve played them in their place in a long time. We had a chance. We were right there, but we had too many turnovers."

H-BC bounced back from a 19-16 deficit in the first quarter by outscoring SWC 14-11 in the second period to knot the score at 30 by halftime.

The Eagles led 43-42 heading into the fourth quarter, when they overcame H-BC's five-point lead to win by five points.

David Top scored 17 points, collected eight rebounds and passed for four assists during the game. Lyle DeBoer added 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Trey Van Wyhe added 10 points to H-BC's cause. Darin DeBoer had three steals and four assists, and Jesse Leuthold had six rebounds and three steals.

The 12-8 Patriots will wrap up the regular season by hosting Edgerton tomorrow and playing in Ellsworth Monday.

Box score
D.DeBoer 2 0 0-0 4, Roozenboom 1 0 0-0 2, Van Maanen 1 0 2-2 4, Leuthold 3 0 0-0 6, L.DeBoer 5 0 1-2 11, Van Wyhe 4 0 2-2 10, Top 6 0 5-8 17.

Team statistics
H-BC: 22 of 39 field goals (56 percent), 10 of 14 free throws (71 percent), 30 rebounds, 29 turnovers.
SWC: 23 of 59 field goals (39 percent), eight of 12 free throws (67 percent), 24 rebounds, 16 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls' basketball team let a possible win slip away during the regular season finale against Worthington in Hills Tuesday.

Leading 27-18 with 3:27 remaining in the third quarter, it looked like the Patriots would snap a season-long three-game losing skid.

Worthington, however, had a different plan. The Trojans went on a 32-9 scoring run in the final 11 minutes of the game to pull out a 50-36 victory.

The loss ended a 12-11 regular season for the Patriots, who will take a four-game losing skid into the quarterfinal round of the Section 3A South Tournament in Worthington. The Patriots play Southwest Christian or Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster at 8 p.m.

The Trojans did most of the damage to H-BC in the fourth quarter, when they turned a 30-28 deficit to start the period into a win by outscoring the hosts 22-6 in the stanza.

The game started with H-BC's Becky Broesder scoring all of her teamÕs points in a first quarter that ended with the Patriots sporting a 6-4 lead.

H-BC led by three (9-6) when Broesder connected for a field goal at the 5:41 mark of the second quarter; then Worthington countered with a 6-0 run that gave the team a 13-9 lead.

The Trojans were in front 14-11 when the Patriots went on an 8-0 run, with six of the points coming from Erin Boeve, to open a 19-14 advantage. Worthington scored the final two points of the half to make it a 19-16 game.

An 8-2 run capped by a field goal by Brittney Olson gave the Patriots their biggest lead of the game (27-18) with 3:18 remaining in the third quarter. The Trojans answered the challenge by ending the quarter with a 10-3 surge that trimmed H-BCÕs lead to two points (30-28) at period's end.

Worthington opened the fourth quarter by putting together an 11-2 run that gave it a 39-32 lead with four minutes left to play. The Patriots pulled to within five points of the Trojans twice as the period progressed, but they were outscored 11-4 the rest of the way.

Boeve led H-BC with 10 points, 11 rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals. Olson added three assists to the cause

Box score
B.Rozeboom 3 0 1-2 7, B.Olson 1 0 1-4 3, Rentschler 1 0 0-0 2, Tilstra 1 1 1-2 6, Broesder 3 0 2-6 8, S.Rozeboom 0 0 0-0 0, DeNoble 0 0 0-0 0, Boeve 3 0 4-7 10.

Team statistics
H-BC: 14 of 45 field goals (31 percent), nine of 21 free throws (43 percent), 24 rebounds, 22 turnovers.
Worthington: 17 of 49 field goals (35 percent), 13 of 21 free throws (62 percent), 29 rebounds, nine turnovers.

By Jolene Farley
Rock County Relay for Life organizers hope to meet or surpass last year's $50,000 raised for the American Cancer Society.

This year's Relay for Life is planned for Friday, June 14, and Saturday, June 15, at the Luverne High School track and football field.

The Relay for Life involves teams of runners and walkers competing against each other to raise money.

Last year, the first for Rock County, 41 teams and 535 walkers registered.

Participants have many reasons for deciding to volunteer for the Relay. For co-chair Vicki Baartman, Luverne, it was the loss of her grandmothers and an uncle to cancer and the diagnosis of her father with the same disease that spurred her to volunteer.

"It's happened over and over in my family," she said. "I felt this was something I could do that might help."

Co-chairs Baartman and Nancy Kaczrowski hope to make this year's Relay for Life a countywide event.

"Our goal would be to get more teams from the entire county so it becomes a truly county Relay for Life." Kaczrowski said. "We want to make sure all the corners of the county are participating."

Corporations, neighborhoods or families can start teams. Kaczrowski is willing to help.

"If they are interested, they can contact me," said Kaczrowski. "I'd be happy to share more information and get them enthused."

The Relay is most noted for its luminarias lit in memory of individuals who have died from cancer or in honor of those who have survived cancer.

The luminarias are paper sacks anchored by sand and lit by a candle inside. Last year, Rock County Relay crowds saw 1,705 luminarias lit at dusk.

They can be decorated by individuals, or Relay For Life organizers can simply write a loved one's name on the luminaria.

"Some families prefer to do their own," said co-chair Vicki Baartman. "They'll put pictures on it. If the person was particularly interested in golf or baseball they will decorate it representing the personÕs interests."

"It was really moving," said Baartman about last year's luminaria lighting. "It was a real visual reminder how many lives are touched by cancer."

The official kick-off for the event is Thursday, March 7, for committee members and team captains.

Eight-year-old Jessica Fick, cancer survivor, has been selected this year's honorary chair. Jessica is the daughter of Mel and Denise Fick, Luverne.

There are several ways to get involved with this yearÕs Relay for Life.

The Relay for Life needs more corporate sponsors. Jubilee Foods, Glen's Food Center, Minnwest Bank and Luverne Community Hospital and Sioux Valley Physicians Group (Luverne Medical Center) are the current Gold level ($1,000) sponsors for this year's event.

Teams of eight to 10 members are needed to walk during the relay. Organizers hope to see all the teams from last year plus some new teams as well.

Volunteers are needed to help plan entertainment for the evening and coordinate food and beverage donations.

Baartman can be reached at 283-4119 and Kaczrowski at 283-9261.

Fine Arts to sponsor photo contest
The Rock County Fine Arts Association is sponsoring a photo contest, "Images of Rock County."

The contest is divided into two divisions, one for those under 18 and the other for the rest of us.

The three categories include people, animals and scenery, and you can enter one entry in each category.

You don't have to worry about competing with the pros because they are not allowed to enter, but they will judge the event.

The deadline for entering is March 1, and the photo entries will be on display at the Carnegie Cultural Center through the end of March.

For details about entering the contest you can go to their Web site at www.rockartsrock.com, or you can contact them at 283-8294.

County Engineer imposes weight restrictions
It may not be spring yet, but it is time for spring weight restrictions on county and state roads.

The weight restrictions went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19.

According to County Engineer Mark Sehr, the weight restrictions used to be set at eight weeks. Now the restriction can go as long as eight weeks but can be ended in a shorter period of time is circumstances permit.

The intent is to restrict weights at the beginning of the thaw cycle when restrictions are needed most. Spring is a critical period for roads because the soils and aggregate materials are weak while the frost leaves the ground, according to Sehr.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation put its spring restrictions in place on Feb. 18.

The restrictions are different on various roads, so each road is posted with the appropriate limit.

Meat for Mexico
The Christian Reformed churches in southwest Minnesota, southeast South Dakota and northwest Iowa have joined together to send meat to needy children and families in Mexico.

When hog prices hit the bottom in 1998, the idea of using cheap pork to help benefit starving people in Mexico was born.

The original goal was to butcher 12 hogs and send the meat to a southern Texas mission station for distribution to a mission school in northern Mexico.

The response was much greater than expected. Instead of 12 hogs being donated, a total of 14,000 pounds of pork was donated.

With prices again down, the group is trying to raise a shipment of pork for Mexico.

This time 30,000 pounds of meat is the goal, which local processing plants will process and package for free, and Justice for All, a non-profit organization, has agreed to find delivery and cold storage for the meat at no cost.

If you would like to donate a hog or two, contact one of the Christian Reformed churches in the area or phone Larry Ryswyk at 507-443-6202 or Ken Alons at 507-825-3861.

Making it easier to donate your organs
If Minnesotans want to donate their organs, should they have their wishes followed?

The House Civil Law Committee decided on Jan. 30 that they should.

The committee clarified an existing law to make sure those who designate their intention to be donors on their driver's license or state identification cards actually become donors.

Rep. Phyllis Kahn sponsored the bill because family members sometimes override the wishes of their deceased relative and refuse to allow the personÕs organs to be donated.

Since the organs need to be harvested from the body shortly after death, grieving families are often asked to make a quick decision at an already stressful time.

According to LifeSource, an independent, nonprofit organ procurement organization that matches donors to recipients, nearly 80,000 people nationally are waiting for an organ transplant, including about 2,100 in the upper Midwest region, which includes Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and North and South Dakota.

Although the list of people in need of organs continues to grow, the number of organs has remained steady.

According to LifeSource, about 16 people each day die while waiting for an organ transplant.

Publisher Roger Tollefson can be contacted by e-mail at
tolly@star-herald.com