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The Hills-Beaver Creek girls’ basketball team faced a tough test against Central Lyon Saturday, Dec. 17, when Hills conceded a 75-41 loss.
“Central Lyon is one of the toughest teams in Iowa,” said head coach Dylan Gehrke. “They showed that on Saturday. They’re tough as nails on defense and offensively one of the best in the area.”
He said the Patriot girls played solid offense in the first half minus some careless turnovers.
Defensively H-BC rebounded well against Central Lyon but had a hard time converting them into points, which led to a 46-17 half-time deficit.
The second half was a test of the Patriot girls’ mental capacity to stay in the game, according to Gehrke. Down but not out, the Patriots did bow to Central Lyon.
“I was proud of our girls on their fight and toughness in the second half. You see some teams get down 20-30 points at half and they mail it in for the rest of the game,” Gehrke said.
“Not our girls at H-BC. They continued to fight, scratch and claw until the very end. That is what I love about this team.”
Leading the Patriots’ scoring, Abbie Harris and Lyla Deelstra posted nine points each, and Olivia Deelstra and Lanae Elbers contributed six points each.
Ella Sammons had three points and Brynn Rauk, Olivia Bork, Larissa Steinhoff and Izzy Wysong all added two points.
Defensively Harris pulled down three rebounds and snagged three steals. Knobloch posted three rebounds and two steals.
Rauk fought for four rebounds and Elbers blocked four shots.
The Patriots, now 2-3 for the season, were scheduled to take on Luverne at home Tuesday, Dec. 20, and they’ll travel to Mountain Lake Thursday, Dec. 22.