By Skip Hunter –

And so the year starts. Mike Drooger accompanied me to Hills and then on to Lamberton last Saturday for a weird boy-girl double header. Looking at Hills-Beaver Creek’s roster you wondered about their experience as they only showed one senior on their roster. After 9 minutes gone in the first half, SWC had a 20-10 run and appeared to have things under control. HBC got the ball to their 3 main players, SWC committed many fouls, and the game stayed close until the end. SWC ended up with an 80-72 win to open the season.

Micah Schaap showed off his jumping ability early, snaring an offensive rebound, and scoring. After HBC went ahead 3-2, Cole Walhof drove down the lane and scored. The Patriots came back with a trey to lead once more 6-5. Carter Van Hulzen was fouled while shooting and made 1 of 2 from the line. Another HBC triple made the score 8-5.

The Eagles then outscored the home team 15-2 over the next 5 minutes of the first half. Jacob Raak splashed home a trey, assisted by Zach Prins. Prins then fed Van Hulzen for a deuce, and on a fast break Van Hulzen got the ball to Walhof who was fouled. He finished the fast break with 2 made free throws. HBC countered with a pair of charity shots, but the Eagles scored the next 7 points.

Dawson Rieck first passed to Hunter Vander Haar for a low post bucket, and then the sophomore hit Raak lurking outside the arc for a trey. Prins took the ball the length of the court for a lay-up which made the score 20-10. HBC’s coach had seen enough and took a time out.

After the Patriots hit a 3-ball, Raak hit his third trey using a Prins feed. The Eagles increased their lead to 25-13 with a Raak to Vander Haar inbounds play. HBC hit a deuce, but the Eagles countered with  a Rieck trey assisted by Van Hulzen. The Patriots cut the lead to 5 points with 7 consecutive points. Rieck swiped the ball from a Patriot and scored to make the count 32-27.

HBC scored twice, sandwiched around a Vander Haar bucket after he grabbed an offensive board. The Eagles picked up 4 more points on a Schaap bucket after rebounding his own missed shot. He later looped a pass to Walhof for a bucket. Prins made a pair of charity shots to give the Eagles a 9-point advantage. The Eagles scored 3 more first half points using a Vander Haar score, abetted by Walhof, and a free throw from Cody Van’t Hof. At the half the Eagles led 43-37.