By Mark HaugenCombine the scoring of seniors Sadie Dietrich and Natalie Domagala with the stellar goaltending of Sarah Schneekloth and the wins start coming.The Luverne girls added two more last week, beating Sioux Falls Blue 7-4 Thursday night and Southwest Conference foe Windom 8-1 on Tuesday night. Dietrich and Domagala each had a five-goal night.The Cardinals are now 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the conference. They play at Mankato West on Saturday and at Marshall on Tuesday.Luverne 8, Windom 1Coach Dave Siebenahler wasn’t too pleased with his team’s performance in the first two periods as Luverne managed a 2-1 lead, but the third period was a different story.Domagala knocked home a short-handed goal, with an assist by Dietrich, to open Luverne’s scoring at 5:32 of the first. Dietrich then scored the first of what would be five goals at the 6:14 mark of the second. Windom came back two minutes later and pulled within 2-1 with a powerplay goal.After the second period break, Luverne came out firing and notched six goals, including a streak of three within seven minutes. Domagala added two more and Dietrich closed out the barrage with an unassisted goal with 38 seconds left.Dietrich, with her five goals, also had two assists. Schneekloth stopped 40 shots on goal. Luverne 7, SF Blue 4In a rematch of a 5-3 mid-November loss, the Cardinals showed the Sioux Falls Flyers an improved version of themselves and skated to the win.Luverne’s Natalie Domagala turned a hat trick in the first period on her way to five goals on the night, along with two assists. Sioux Falls had an answer for each of Domagala’s first two goals, but she broke the tie on an assist from Amanda Niessink with 13 seconds left in the first. Then with one tick left on the clock, Sadie Dietrich gave the Cardinals a boost with her unassisted goal and a 4-2 lead.Domagala added two more goals in the second period, with an assist each from Dietrich on a powerplay and from Natalie Morgan.Stephanie Steensma capped Luverne’s scoring with a powerplay assist from Domagala at the 11:54 mark in the third. Sioux Falls managed two third period games to make the score respectable. Sarah Schneekloth stopped 17 shots in net for Luverne."The girls really picked it up. They really wanted to get back at Sioux Falls and show them that we were a better team than they showed them before," Siebenahler said. "The girls came out ready to play and seemed like they really wanted to win."Benson/Morris 3, Luverne 2 OTThe Cardinals’ five-game win streak was snapped as B/M hit a shot with 3:25 remaining in overtime on Saturday.Schneekloth was tough in the net all night long as the Luverne eighth-grader stopped 48 shots. She had a shutout through the first two periods.Domagala, smothered on defense all night, managed a goal in the first and a goal in the third."We just came out flat and didn’t play very well the whole game, butt Sarah Schneekloth played awesome," Siebenahler said. "They put a lot of pressure on Natalie and she couldn’t get into the flow of the game and that set the tone."

By Mark HaugenLuverne lost its first game of the season last week after starting out the year 6-0.Luverne beat Murray County Central 62-56 on Saturday night but shot poorly and lost 49-43 to Edgerton on Monday.The boys host Redwood Valley on Friday and JCC on Tuesday.Luverne 62, MCC 56The Cardinals netted their sixth straight win behind Brandon Deragisch’s 16 points and six steals.Luverne fell behind 15-12 after the first quarter but bounced back with a 17-8 second quarter run that left them leading by six at halftime.Junior guard Jake Hendricks finished with 14 points for Luverne and John Tofteland added 10."It was a fairly close game throughout and we didn’t put them away like I wanted to," Coach Tom Rops said. "They are a very scrappy team, especially on their home court."The game was won at the free-throw line where the Cardinals were 18-25 and MCC only 3-4.The Luverne "B" team won 60-36 as Mark Boelman scored 21.Luverne Box ScorePick 4 4-6 12, Herman 1 3-5 5, Deragisch 2 2 7-8 16, Hendricks 1 3 3-4 14, Tofteland 3 1 1-2 10, Heronimus 2 1-2 5.Team Totals:Rebounds: L 20 (Herman 5). Steals: Pick 5.Edgerton 49, Luverne 43Luverne’s Brandon Deragisch and Jake Hendricks hit 3-pointers in the final two minutes to pull the Cardinals to within three, but they could get no closer.Deragisch scored 20 on the night, as Luverne hung around within single digits most of the game but couldn’t overcome 17-22 free throw shooting by the Flying Dutchmen."Unfortunately we shot the ball extremely poorly (15-48) and we didn’t create as many turnovers as we normally do," Rops said. "We haven’t been shooting the ball all that well the whole year and again that hurt us. They made a few more plays than we did."The Cardinal "B" team won 48-36 behind Derek Boeve’s 16. Their record is 6-1.Luverne Box ScorePick 2 2-4 6, Herman 1 2-2 4, Deragisch 3 3 5-6 20, Tofteland 1 4-4 6, Heronimus 1 0-1 2, Hendricks 0 2 0-2 6..Team Totals:Rebounds: L 20, E 20. Turnovers: L 15, E 15.

While getting my feet wet here, one of the first things that pops out to me is not just the talent of the kids at the various schools we cover but the quality of the coaching.I’m not just kissing up when I say that. There are some places where the coaches just roll out the balls for practice, let the kids go at it and cash their checks at the end of the month. Here, even with some of the teams with poorer records, the coaches seem really into it.If you wanted to see some kids who were really into it, you should’ve seen the Hills-Beaver Creek vs. Ellsworth game on Saturday night. H-BC racked up 27 points in the first quarter.Those guys were going 100 miles per hour. That’s usually a good thing, unless you’re the opposing team or the guy with a manual-focus camera who is often challenged just to get good pictures at a tortoise race.It was one of those games I stumble into sometimes where I find myself watching and enjoying, forgetting I’m holding the camera. Then some kid goes flying through the air, leaps up for a dunk or dives at a ball and I finally remember: "Wow, that would’ve been a good picture if I’d been taking one!"RESCHEDULED:We haven’t had a snowflake yet, but the athletic schedule is already getting adjusted. Note these date changes:Luverne gymnastics, scheduled for Dec. 14, has been rescheduled to Dec. 21.Luverne boys hockey, scheduled for Dec. 27-29 at Worthington Tournament, has been rescheduled to Dec. 29-31.Luverne boys basketball, scheduled for Feb. 12 at Marshall, has been moved up to Feb. 8.MAKING HIS MARK:Freshman Curt Schilling of Adrian leads the Northwestern College men’s basketball team of Orange City with 15.1 points per game. The Red Raiders are ranked No. 4 in the most recent NAIA Division II poll.CROOKED REF:I saw something I hadn’t seen before at the H-BC vs. Central Lyon game last week. The referee needed three attempts to toss the opening jump ball. He had trouble getting it straight, but finally succeeded.FROM THE E-MAIL BAG:"I had to laugh at your article this week about the Vikings, but I was also a bit offended. I know a lot of people in the area love the Vikings and I know some of them don’t blame Tice for their downfall. I personally blame the players; as you said, they are getting paid big money to do their job. Just think how great our sermons on Sunday morning would be if our pastors got paid millions to work there one day a week … the whole world would be saved! Just my thoughts, keep up the good work."Not a problem, I offend myself sometimes.Feel free to email me at markh@star-herald.com. I won’t include your name, as long as you’re nice like this lady was.But if you get on my case too bad, I’m going to start naming names! Just kidding.

By Mark HaugenHills-Beaver Creek shot to a 22-9 first quarter lead over Edgerton and didn’t let up in recording a 54-43 Red Rock Conference girls basketball victory Friday night in Edgerton."We got out to a real quick start," Coach Tom Goehle said. "Any time you are able to score 22 points in a quarter you are doing well. Then we were able to dictate the tempo of the game."Senior Cassi Tilstra led the Patriots with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Brittney Rozeboom and Kerri Fransman tossed in a dozen points apiece, and Fransman had four assists with her pair of 3-pointers.Edgerton edged to within 42-36 after holding H-BC to six points in the third quarter but could get no closer."They did a good job of getting the ball in to their big girl in the second and third quarters and we got a little cold shooting," Goehle said. "Then we did a good job of turning the pressure back up in the fourth and attacking the basket." H-BC, 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Red Rock Conference, plays at Fulda tonight and then hosts Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster on Tuesday.H-BC Box ScoreRozeboom 4 4-6 12, Fransman 3 2 0-0 12, A. Tilstra 0 0-0 0, Feucht 3 0-0 6, Fink 1 1 0-0 5, Helgeson 0 0-0 0, C. Tilstra 5 5-6 15, Roozenboom 1 0-0 2, Mulder 1 0-0 2.Team Totals:2-pt shooting: H-BC 18-43 for 42 percent, E 20-41 for 49 percent. 3-pt shooting: H-BC 3-0, E 0-1. Rebounds: H-BC 28 (C. Tilstra 10, Rozeboom 5), E 27. Blocks: H-BC 1, E 9. Steals: H-BC 15 (Feucht 4, C. Tilstra 4). Assists: H-BC 14. Turnovers: H-BC 12, E 22.

By Mark HaugenSenior Kale Wiertzema became just the eighth Hills-Beaver Creek boys basketball player to go over the 1,000 mark in career points on Tuesday night in Hills.He ended with 31 points on the night in helping the Patriots to a 3-0 record on the week and lifting them to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference.H-BC beat Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster 81-56 on Tuesday night, beat Ellsworth 77-70 on Saturday and downed Murray County Central 78-65 on Thursday.The Patriots play Southwest Christian in Edgerton Friday night and at Westbrook-Walnut Grove on Tuesday.H-BC 81, SVRLB 56Kale Wiertzema’s 3-pointer in the third quarter pushed him over the 1,000-point mark for his career and helped lift the Patriots to the victory.It was part of a 28-9 H-BC scoring outburst that put away SV-RL-B, as the Patriots shot 56 percent for the game.Wiertzema poured in 31 points on 10-16 shooting and rolled "7"s in rebounds, steals and assists. Zach Wysong tossed in 21 points, hitting 5-7 on 3-pointers. Tyler Bush led with eight rebounds and nine assists."We shot the ball real well and played a little better defense in the second half," Coach Steve Wiertzema said. "We’re playing real well using our speed to our advantage and shooting the ball well. It’s progressing like we want."H-BC Box ScoreDeBoer 0 0-0 0, Wysong 33 5 0-1 21, Bush 3 0-0 6, Sandbulte 0 0-1 0, Wiertzema 10 2 5-6 31, Haak 1 1-2 3, Broesder 0 2 0-0 6, Hup 2 1-2 5, LeBoutillier 1 0-0 2, Rozeboom 2 1 0-0 7.. Team Totals:2-pt shooting: H-BC 22-40 for 55 percent, SVRLB 13-24 for 54.2 percent. 3-pt shooting: H-BC 10-17 for 58.8 percent, SVRLB 9-14 for 65.3 percent. Rebounds: H-BC 30 (Bush 8, Wiertzema 7), SVRLB 16, Blocks: H-BC 3. Steals: H-BC 14 (Wiertzema 7). Turnovers: H-BC 9, SVRLB 14. Assists: H-BC 27 (Bush 9, Wiertzema 7). H-BC 78,MCC 65The Patriots had their running game in high gear and wore down Murray County Central on Thursday in Slayton.H-BC jumped to a 19-11 first-quarter lead and forced 13 first-half turnovers.Wiertzema fell one assist shy of a triple-double, compiling 19 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. He nabbed six steals for good measure.Wysong hit three 3-pointers and totaled 17 points, while Broesder had 14. Bush and LeBoutillier scored a dozen each.H-BC Box ScoreDeBoer 0 2-2 2, Wysong 3 3 2-2 17, Bush 4 0 4-4 12, Wiertzema 5 2 33-4 19, Baker 0 0-0 0, Broesder 4 2 0-0 14, Hup 0 0-0 0, LeBoutillier 6 0 0-2 12, Martens 0 2-2 2. Team Totals:2-pt shooting: H-BC 22-51 for 43.1 percent, MCC 18-34 for 52.9 percent. 3-pt shooting: HBC 7-10 (Wysong 3-5, Wiertzema 2-3, Broesder 2-2), MCC 9-19. Rebounds: H-BC 41 (Wiertzema 12, Bush 7, Broesder 7, LeBoutillier 7), MCC 23. Steals: H-BC 16 (Wiertzema 6, Bush 5). Turnovers: H-BC 17, MCC 21. Assists: H-BC 22 (Wiertzema 9, Bush 8).H-BC 77, Ellsworth 70H-BC came out firing, rolling up 27 points in the first quarter, and held off a late Panther charge for the win.Wysong nailed four 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 21 points. Wiertzema netted 17 points and led with nine rebounds and nine assists. Bush added 15 points and five steals.The Patriots led 60-44 going into the fourth quarter, where they were outscored 26-17."We played very well to start the game but lost our intensity on defense and got into some foul trouble," Coach Steve Wiertzema said.H-BC Box ScoreWysong 2 4 5-6 21, Bush 6 1 0-0 15, Wiertzema 7 3-6 17, Baker 2 0-0 4, Broesder 3 1 0-1 9, Hup 1 0-0 2, LeBoutillier 2 3-5 7, Rozeboom 1 0-1 2.. Team Totals:2-pt shooting: H-BC 24-42 for 57 percent, E 16-37 for 43 percent. 3-pt shooting: H-BC 6-13 for 46 percent, E 9-27 for 33 percent. Rebounds: H-BC 35 (Wiertzema 9, Baker 7), E 35. Blocks: H-BC 1, E 0. Steals: H-BC 10 (Bush 3, Wiertzema 3, LeBoutillier 3). Turnovers: H-BC 15, E 10. Assists: H-BC 23 (Wiertzema 9, Bush 5).

By Lexi MooreThe Hills-Beaver Creek school board met late Monday night allowing board members to enjoy the H-BC bands performing in the gym.A large portion of the meeting focused on the preliminary audit for the 2003-2004 school year. The audit presented to the school board reflected an end-of-year deficit of $840,372. This deficit was attributed to several unusual expenses that occurred in the 2003-2004 school year. Among those were the cost of the locker room, boiler repair, bus repairs, special education payments and severance payments.A final version of the 2003-2004 school audit will be presented to the council on Jan. 10, 2005.In other business Monday the board addressed a smattering of issues:oSuperintendent David Deragisch’s mother, Doris Blom, began the meeting by donating her 1996 Town and Country van to the school district (see related story).oTodd Holthaus, H-BC Elementary Principal, said he was proud to report that the School Cents fund-raiser earned the school a $1,000 reward. The money will be used to purchase character education materials. The program is called Second Step.oHolthaus announced that the posts for the elementary school gates have been cemented and will be installed soon. The new gates will block cars from entering the playground at the elementary school.oThe blood drive at the H-BC high school in conjunction with the American Red Cross yielded 46 units of blood. H-BC students and administrators met their goal of 45 units.oStudents’ interest in Knowledge Bowl continues to increase. School officials organized tryouts to determine which team students would be on. Deragisch said, "To have three teams and alternates gives our school a big advantage."oThe Rock County Collaborative gave H-BC officials $200 to give seat belt checks at the high school. Students received $5 if they arrived at school wearing their seatbelts. During the first check, officials found that 40 percent were wearing their seatbelts. The numbers on the second check were slightly higher.oFinally, the board accepted the resignation of head volleyball coach Curt Doorneweerd and Kid Care Coordinator Heather Erickson.

By Lexi MooreTuesday Hills City Council members met with Rich Crawford from Vanteck Communications to discuss the holes Vanteck drilled on the top of the Hills water tower.This fall, after an agreement was made with the City of Hills, Vanteck technichions installed an antenna on the top of the Hills water tower. The agreement did not give the the company permission to drill holes into the tower. City officials are concerned the antennae and the holes could cause problems with the tower if the situation is not corrected.Mayor Jim Jellema began the discussion by telling the respresentative, "Something needs to be done and needs to be done shortly."Crawford informed the group, "The antennae is installed in a way that does not approach the amount of tension required to do damage."After a lengthly discussion Vanteck agreed to remove the antennae, plug the holes and find a new way of mounting on the water tower that will not cause any long-term damage. This proposal will be presented by Vanteck prior to the spring of 2005.Wayne Ward, Hills maintaince manager, gave a report on the city’s fire hyrdrants.After extensive work on the city’s hydrates during the flushing process, Ward determined which hydrants are not getting enough pressure. The low pressure hydrants will be painted a different color until they can be repaired in the spring.Ward said the flushing procress continues to bring mixed results. Many residents have seen improvements, but there are still complaints about black flecks of iron in the water.In other business:oThe truck owned by the city and used to transport Ward around town has stopped functioning. The council elected for members to check out a potential replacement vechile prior to the next council meeting.oThe council will no longer allow U.S. postal boxes to be installed along Highway 270 due to the added potential for traffic accidents.oA 3-percent salary increase was given to all city officials.oChristmas tree removal will begin on Jan. 3 and run through Jan. 7. Residents can leave their trees curbside for the city to dispose of.oHoliday garbage pickup will be on Friday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Jan. 31.

By Lexi MooreThe Hills-Beaver Creek School Board began Monday night’s meeting by accepting a gift from Doris Blom.Blom, David Deragisch’s mother, said she wanted to give back to the school that had given her so much.She was the wife of former superintendent Dean Deragisch and watched as the Hills-Beaver Creek School District educated her six children. She said when her son decided to walk in his father’s footsteps, she decided she needed to do something to thank the district for what it has done for her.In November she told David that it was time for her to get a new car and she intended to give her old van to the school district."This school meant as much to my husband as it does to David," Blom said. "I want to thank H-BC for what they have done for my family. What better way then to give them my vehicle." Her white 1996 Chrysler Town and Country is reportedly in excellent condition and runs well.Gary Esselink accepted the van on behalf of the school board and thanked Blom for the "very generous gift."Before leaving the meeting Blom said, "This is a time of giving."

10 years ago (1994)
Long-time Luverne Superintendent Norman Miller surprised the School Board members by submitting his resignation. As the last item on the agenda for the final meeting of the calendar year, Chairman Gene Cragoe read Miller’s letter of resignation, effective June 30, 1995.
The Luverne boys got off to a great start in the Southwest Conference basketball race by posting two wins this week. The Cardinals downed defending league champion Worthington by four points in Luverne Tuesday. Luverne bested Pipestone-Jasper by three points in Pipestone Friday.25 years ago (1979)
Rock County girls interested in being a candidate for the second Rock County Pork Queen are invited to an open house sponsored by the Rock County Porkettes.
The Country Cobbler advertised Moon Boots for $9.99.50 years ago (1954)
Sue Manion, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Norbert Manion won first place in her division of the National Baton twirling Association contest in Tampico, Ill. Eleanor Rober, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rober, won second place.
Voters of school district 65, Ashcreek, voted in favor of consolidation with Luverne in an election Dec. 10. The vote was 34-30.75 years ago (1929)
Ed Buckley, for many years a resident of Luverne, opened his new theatre, the New State, last week in Olivia.
Luverne’s board of education decided to offer a reward of $100 for information resulting in the arrest and conviction of the parties responsible for the theft of the gate receipt of the Luverne-Pipestone Armistice Day football game. The money, $213.95 in currency and silver, was taken from the vault in the superintendent’s office.
Earl Loose, Luverne, was given credit by Tin City daily papers for the Minnesota University basketball team defeating the North Dakota Aggies in Minneapolis.100 years ago (1904)
Dr. C.O. Wright is again making his professional calls in his automobile, after having a new 16 h.p. double-cylinder engine installed in place of the 10 h.p. engine used before.
Prof. Young has found places in pleasant homes in Luverne for six girls from the country who are attending school and working for their board, and says that places are offered for others. Like opportunities for boys appear to be hard to find.