By John Rittenhouse
A big game by Patriot Erin Boeve wasn't enough to keep the Hills-Beaver Creek girls' basketball team from ending the regular season on a sour note Tuesday in Worthington.
H-BC took on a strong and deep Trojan team and came up on the short end of a 67-33 tally.
Boeve played a solid game by scoring 18 points, collecting 13 rebounds and blocking two shots, but this game belonged to Worthington.
The loss capped a 10-12 regular season for the Patriots, who will open the South Section 3A Tournament by hosting Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
Worthington, a Class 3A team, used its strength and depth to best the Patriots by 34 points. Playing a relentless, physical style of game, the Trojans were able to outscore H-BC in every quarter.
"They were too physical for us," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "The style of game they let go on over there was just too physical for us. It took us out of our game."
The Patriots remained in contact with the Trojans when they faced 23-13 and 35-23 deficits at the first two quarter breaks, but Worthington outscored H-BC 32-10 in the second half to win handily.
The Trojans opened a 21-point lead (46-25) by the end of the third quarter before outscoring H-BC 21-8 in the final stanza.
Becky Broesder recorded four assists for H-BC.
Box score
C.Tilstra 0 0 0-0 0, Olson 2 0 0-0 4, Sandstede 0 1 0-0 3, Rentschler 0 0 0-0 0, S.Tilstra 1 0 0-0 2, Broesder 2 0 2-2 6, Rozeboom 0 0 0-0 0, DeNoble 0 0 0-0 0, Boeve 7 0 4-6 18, DeHaan 0 0 0-0 0, Arp 0 0 0-0 0.
Team statistics
H-BC: 13 of 48 field goals (27 percent), six of nine free throws (67 percent), 29 rebounds, 19 turnovers.
Worthington: 27 of 63 field goals (43 percent), nine of 12 free throws (75 percent), 46 rebounds, 14 turnovers.