By John RittenhouseWhen a basketball team is reduced to the role of being a spoiler when it comes to conference competition, it might as well make an impact on the title chase.That’s exactly what the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots accomplished Friday in Hills.Playing Murray County Central, a team that entered the game in a three-way tie for second place in the Red Rock Conference, the Patriots pulled off an upset by saddling the Rebels with a 60-51 setback.The win, H-BC’s second of the year and the first victory since Jan. 12, snapped what was a 10-game losing skid. More importantly, it proved the Patriots have what it takes to come from behind and beat a good team."It was a nice win for us," said Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema. "We’ve had so many close games like this one. It was nice to get one."The Patriots scored the game’s first three points and remained in front until MCC moved ahead 8-7 at the 12:09 mark of the first half. The Rebels proceeded to extend their lead to seven points (21-14) with 5:11 remaining in the half, but H-BC ended the stanza with a 10-5 spurt capped by Adam Finke’s field goal at 1:01 to trim MCC’s lead to two points (26-24) at the intermission.MCC led 30-26 early in the second half before H-BC reeled off 12 straight points with Jason Hup converting a three-point play at the 8:19 to give the hosts a 38-30 lead.The Rebels closed the gap to two points (40-38) 1:26 later, but the Patriots countered with a 12-2 spurt ending with Hup draining a pair of free throws with 1:52 remaining. The free throws gave the Patriots a 52-40 lead that wasn’t seriously challenged by MCC the rest of the night.Aaron Esselink turned in a 21-point, 13-rebound effort for H-BC. Hup netted 14 points. Cody Rozeboom led the Patriots with 14 rebounds. Tom Scholten and Finke chipped in five and four assists respectively.Box scoreVan Wyhe 0 0 5-9 5, Rozeboom 4 0 1-1 9, Finke 2 1 2-4 9, Scholten 1 0 0-0 2, DeBoer 0 0 0-0 0, Hup 4 0 6-8 14, Sandbulte 0 0 0-0 0, Esselink 6 0 9-10 21.Team statisticsH-BC: 18 of 46 field goals (39 percent), 23 of 32 free throws (72 percent), 39 rebounds, 21 turnovers.MCC: 19 of 61 field goals (31 percent), eight of 15 free throws (53 percent), 15 rebounds, eight turnovers.