By John Rittenhouse
A hot-shooting Adrian boys' basketball team bested Hills-Beaver Creek 61-54 when the teams met in Hills Tuesday.
The visiting Dragons canned 61 percent of their field goals overall and fought off a late charge by the Patriots to win by seven.
Adrian opened a 20-13 lead in the game's first eight minutes of play before outscoring the Patriots 17-8 in the second quarter to make it a 37-21 at the intermission.
H-BC trimmed the difference to nine points (46-37) with a 16-9 scoring advantage in the third quarter and trailed by as little as three points during the fourth quarter. Adrian received three free throws by Mark Kroon and two each from Bryce Block and Pete Hohn down the stretch to put the game away.
"Our kids hit some free throws down the stretch, so they did what they had to do to win," said Dragon coach Chris Rozell. "H-BC fought back hard in the second half. They have a bunch of kids who never give up."
Brad Lonneman, who led the Dragons with six rebounds, scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the first half. Block scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half for AHS.
Travis Rupp added 10 points and Kroon passed for seven assists.
Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema tipped his hat to the Dragons when the game was complete.
"It's tough to beat a team when they shoot the ball like they did. I give them all the credit because they played well," he said.
Chris Fransman, David Top and Lyle DeBoer led a balanced attack by H-BC with 10 points each.
Lyle DeBoer had six rebounds, six assists and four steals. Darin DeBoer had five assists and four steals.
The 3-6 Patriots host Russell-Tyler-Ruthton tonight before playing at Edgerton Public tomorrow.
Adrian, 4-3 overall, hosts Luverne tomorrow and Westbrook-Walnut Grove Tuesday. The Dragons play in Lake Benton Monday.
Box score
Adrian
Hohn 1 0 2-4 4, Kroon 0 0 3-5 3, Baartman 0 2 0-0 6, Block 4 2 2-2 16, Lonneman 8 2 0-0 22, Rupp 4 0 2-3 10.
H-BC
D.DeBoer 1 0 6-10 8, Van Maanen 1 0 0-0 2, Fransman 2 2 0-2 10, Haak 0 0 0-3 0, L.DeBoer 4 0 2-4 10, Top 1 2 2-4 10, Crawford 3 0 0-0 6, Buck 3 0 2-4 8.
Team statistics
H-BC: 18 of 41 field goals (44 percent), 12 of 17 free throws (44 percent), 22 rebounds, 13 turnovers.
Adrian: 23 of 38 field goals (61 percent), nine of 14 free throws (64 percent), 24 rebounds, 20 turnovers.