By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls avenged an early-season loss to Ellsworth by nipping the Panthers 48-45 in a Tri-County Conference game played in Hills Thursday.
A solid third quarter gave the Patriots an 11-point lead heading into the final eight minutes of play when they fought off a late challenge by Ellsworth to secure a three-point win.
"This was a good win for us," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "We were able to get a big lead in the third quarter by pressing them and creating some turnovers. We had to hang on a little bit in the end, but we managed."
H-BC, which led 10-7 and 20-19 at the first two quarter stops, went on an 18-10 run fueled by Erin Boeve in the third quarter to open a 38-29 lead.
Boeve, who led the Patriots with 18 points and nine rebounds, erupted for 13 counters in the third quarter.
Ellsworth battled back well in the fourth quarter and trailed 46-44 with 12 seconds remaining. Panther Jenna Groen went to the line with an opportunity to knot the score at that point, but she made one of two charity shots to make it a 46-45 game. Patriot Becky Broesder was fouled with two seconds left and drained a pair of free throws to cap the scoring.
According to Ellsworth coach Dean Schnaible, a defensive change he made in the third quarter opened the door for H-BC's run.
"We trailed 20-19 after playing a zone in the first half. I decided to go to a man-to-man defense in the third quarter thinking that it would help us to pick up the tempo, but it backfired on us. I was responsible for the loss," he said.
Holly Timmer had 13 points and nine rebounds for Ellsworth, while Connie Lewis added 13 points and eight rebounds. Groen netted 10 points and collected seven rebounds, while Janelle Jenniges charted seven rebounds.
Box score
Ellsworth
Deutsch 1 0 0-0 2, Boltjes 1 0 0-0 2, J.Jenniges 1 0 3-4 5, D.Jenniges 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 4 0 5-10 13, Ja.Leuthold 0 0 0-0 0, Groen 2 1 3-4 10, Timmer 2 0 9-12 13.
H-BC
C.Tilstra 1 0 0-0 2, Olson 1 0 0-1 2, Sandstede 1 1 1-2 6, Rentschler 0 0 0-0 0, S.Tilstra 1 1 0-2 5, Broesder 2 0 2-3 6, DeNoble 1 0 3-6 5, Boeve 7 0 4-6 18, DeHaan 1 0 0-0 2, Arp 1 0 0-0 2.
Team statistics
Ellsworth: 12 of 36 field goals (33 percent), 20 of 30 free throws (67 percent), 31 rebounds, 16 turnovers.
H-BC: 18 of 45 field goals (40 percent), 10 of 20 free throws (50 percent), 25 rebounds, 10 turnovers.