The Hills-Beaver Creek girls’ basketball team dropped three games this past week.
The Patriots traveled to West Lyon Jan. 10, losing 72-23.
H-BC then played a tough Southwest Christian team at home Jan. 12, giving up a 74-43 loss.
Hills-Beaver Creek traveled to Madison, South Dakota, to take on White River Saturday, Jan. 14, losing 62-55.
The Patriots were scheduled to take on Adrian-Ellsworth at home Tuesday, Jan. 17.
H-BC will then host Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey Friday, Jan. 20
West Lyon 72, H-BC 23
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls’ basketball team lost to a tough Wildcats team, 72-23, at West Lyon Tuesday, Jan. 10.
“It was a battle yet again the other night against West Lyon,” said head coach Dylan Gehrke. “They have a balance of quickness, size, and strength that was tough for us to match up against.”
West Lyon opened a lead in the first half, and the Patriot girls had to play catchup ball.
“Our goal was to take away the inside, which then left West Lyon’s Klarenbeek with some room to shoot and she made us pay, scoring 27. She is a heck of a player,” said Gehrke.
The Wildcats led at the half 27-12, but the Patriots did not give up.
“I thought our girls did an awesome job of going out there and not backing down. I thought we matched their physicality, but yet again we struggled to score,” Gehrke said.
In the second half West Lyon held H-BC to only three points.
Gehrke said it’s a challenge to play bigger schools that have state tournament experience.
Junior Brynn Rauk led the Patriots with six points, one rebound, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
Junior Layla Deelstra added four points, two assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
Other Patriots scoring in the game were ninth-grader Claire Knobloch with three points, eighth-grader Olivia Deelstra with three, junior Lanae Elbers with three, junior Larissa Steinhoff with two and ninth-grader Abbie Harris with two.
SWC 74, H-BC 43
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls’ basketball team met conference rivals Southwest Christian in Edgerton Thursday, Jan. 12.
The Patriots faced a tough Eagles team, losing 74-43 in a hard-fought game.
“What a wild game that was. It is always fun to go to Southwest Christian and play. There is always a solid crowd and the gym is usually rocking. Such a fun atmosphere to play in, feels like playoff basketball,” said coach Gehrke.
H-BC started out strong, hitting a few 3-pointers that got them going.
“We preached in the locker room before the game that we had to match their intensity on offense and defense. We did a nice job of that for about the first 12 minutes of the first half, then we got into some heavy foul trouble’” Gehrke said.
“This took us out of our game and SWC cranked the pressure back up and we had issues getting the ball across half-court which led to some easy buckets for them.”
The Patriots ended up trailing the Eagles at the end of the first half 32-24.
In the second half Southwest Christian extended their lead by scoring 42 points to Hills-Beaver Creek’s 19.
“I loved the fight and intensity our girls had all night. We just need to work on being disciplined defenders and not committing the silly fouls that get us into trouble,” Gehrke said.
Junior Lanae Elbers led the Patriots with 15 points, nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and four blocked shots.
Eighth-grader Olivia Deelstra added nine points, five rebounds and two assists.
Ninth-grader Abbie Harris had nine points and seven rebounds.
White River 62, H-BC 55
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls’ basketball team traveled to Madison, South Dakota, to take on White River Saturday, Jan. 14.
The Tigers beat the Patriots 62-55 in the matchup.
“Always fun to head to Madison, South Dakota, and play in the Dakota State Classic. Nothing better than getting to play on a college court and get that college basketball atmosphere,” said coach Gehrke.
“The girls did a great job coming out and getting after it to start.”
H-BC won the first quarter, White River took the second quarter, and it ended up being a tie ball game at the half.
White River started the second half on an 8-0 run to put the Patriots down 33-25.
“We battled throughout the second half, cutting it to three multiple times, but we couldn't get over the hump and take the lead,” Gehrke said.
“Props to White River. They won the battle at the free throw line shooting an impressive 22-30, while we went 9-19. We always say that if a team can make more free throws than you attempt, there's a good chance you will come away with the win.”
Elbers and Layla Deelstra led the Patriots, scoring 16 points each.
Harris added 11 points, Olivia Deelstra made nine points and Rauk netted three points.