Photo by Jake McNeill: Minneota guard Lincoln Jerzak attempts a layup during the second half of a prep boys basketball game against Hills-Beaver Creek at the Southwest Minnesota State University Holiday Tournament in Marshall on Monday.

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MARSHALL — The Minneota boys basketball team was never able to keep pace with the reigning Section 3A South runner-up Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots on Monday at the Holiday Classic at Southwest Minnesota State University. The Patriots pulled ahead early and never looked back, knocking Minneota below .500 on the season with a 76-54 loss.

HBC jumped out to a 4-0 lead but Lincoln Jerzak willed his team right back ahead. The Minneota guard knocked down a 3-pointer and then got a steal to set himself up for a transition layup and give the Vikings a 5-4 lead.

That go-ahead bucked in the game’s first two minutes was the last time Minneota led in the game. The Patriots quickly seized momentum when Beau Bakken hit a go-ahead bucket, Jamin Metzger came away with a steal before dunking the ball in transition, and a Bakken midrange and a Riggins Rhealt 3-pointer increased the HBC lead to 10 points.

HBC’s go-ahead run eventually ballooned to 18 unanswered points over the course of five minutes. Jerzak again ended the drought with a 3-pointer with 11 minutes remaining in the half, trimming the deficit to 22-8.

Brody Larson was the first Viking other than Jerzak to score on the day, knocking down a free throw to make the score 25-9 with eight minutes remaining.

Minneota found some rhythm from there with Larson, Hunter Carstensen and Lucas Rybinski each knocking down field goals in the next few minutes. Yet, the Vikings still had no defensive answer for the Patriots, falling behind by as many as 20 points.

A late barrage of points from Rybinski made the Vikings once again competitive in the game, trimming the deficit to 38-25 with two minutes to play.

Still, the Patriots recouped the lost points. Micah Bush made a layup through contact, earning the opportunity to bring the lead back to 20 points at the free-throw line. He missed the shot, but Cameron Allen got the putback basket and Bush got a transition layup on the next possession to increase the lead to 48-25.

Rybinski hit a 3-pointer for MInneota with 23 seconds remaining in the half to trim the deficit to 20 points but Rhealt answered with a midrange jumper at the buzzer to make the halftime score 50-28 in favor of the Patriots.

The Patriots scored the second half’s first 5 points to lead by 27 points, but a layup from Jerzak, a steal from Larson to set up a Tate Peterson layup and a close-range Rybinski jumper brought Minneota back within 20 points.

Having now lost three consecutive games, the Vikings drop below .500 for the first time since their season-opener. Sitting at 3-4 on the season, Minneota will aim to even its record on the season when it takes on Murray County Central (5-2) on the second day of the Holiday Classic. Tuesday’s game at SMSU’s R/A Facility is slated for 12:45 p.m.