By John RittenhouseHills-Beaver Creek passed its first test as the No. 1 seed of the South Section 3A Boys Basketball Tournament by defeating a scrappy Southwest Christian squad 65-49 in Worthington Saturday.Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema expected a tough challenge from eighth-seeded SWC in the quarterfinals, and he got one.The Patriots, however, were able to turn a nice second-quarter run into a 10-point halftime lead and H-BC led by as many as 20 points in the second half before settling for a 16-point win.The victory ups H-BC’s season record to 25-2. The Patriots will return to Worthington tonight to take on fourth-seeded Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin, a 60-46 winner over Southwest Star Concept Saturday, in the semifinals. Game time is 6 p.m.Like Saturday’s game against SWC, Wiertzema said ML-B-O will likely offer another stiff challenge to the Patriots."The sub-section is really strong this year. Seeds 1 through 8 are very good teams," he said. "It’s always hard to win the first game, and you would think you would be playing someone other than the perennial favorite in the first round." SWC always offers a strong defensive effort when it takes the floor, but the Patriots were able to meet the challenge with timely shooting from the floor and one of their best efforts from the free-throw line this season. H-BC converted 21 of 25 free throws (84 percent), including an 11 of 14 effort in the fourth quarter.The Eagles led 4-2 in the first quarter when H-BC reeled off seven straight points with senior Kale Wiertzema hitting a three-point shot at the 4:35 mark to give the Patriots a 9-4 advantage. SWC pulled within one point (11-10) of the Patriots as the period progressed, but H-BC guard Tyler Bush drained a pair of charity shots with two-tenths of one second left to give the Patriots a 13-10 lead heading into the second period.H-BC, a team that scores in bunches, opened the second quarter with a 13-3 run that ended with the Patriots sporting a 26-13 cushion when Bush drained a field goal at the 2:51 mark of the second period. SWC cut H-BC’s lead to nine points twice as the second quarter progressed and trailed 33-23 at halftime."It was very important," coach Wiertzema said, about H-BC’s 13-3 run to start the second period. "We’re a team that scores in runs. We want to run the floor. That’s how we play."The Patriots scored the first five points of the second half and led 50-30 when Bush scored two of his 19 points with 1:00 remaining in the third quarter, which ended with H-BC sporting a 52-32 advantage.SWC climbed within 14 points (60-46) of the Patriots with 2:20 left to play in the fourth quarter, but H-BC made its free throws down the stretch to win by 16."We got them down in the third quarter, and we survived in the fourth quarter. We didn’t take care of the ball very well at the end of the game, but their quickness had something to do with that. SWC is a good defensive team," Wiertzema offered.Kale Wiertzema led the Patrioits with 25 points (13 in the second half), 10 rebounds, eight steals and five assists. Bush, who scored 15 first-half points, added eight rebounds and four assists to the cause.Box scoreWysong 1 0 4-4 6, Rozeboom 1 0 0-0 2, Bush 4 0 11-13 19, Wiertzema 5 3 6-8 25, Baker 1 0 0-0 2, Broesder 1 1 0-0 5, LeBoutillier 3 0 0-0 6.Team statisticsH-BC: 20 of 48 field goals (41 percent), 21 of 25 free throws (84 percent), 30 rebounds, 19 turnovers.SWC: 20 of 49 field goals (40 percent), nine of 15 free throws (60 percent), 30 rebounds, 29 turnovers.