Bulldog boys lose close one to Red Raiders, fall to Vikings

By Cara L. Dempski

It is likely the Boyceville boys’ basketball team was still riding high following its trouncing of the Prairie Farm Panthers in the season opener when the Bulldogs took to the road for the second week of regular season play.

The Bulldogs traveled to Bruce last Tuesday, December 5 to face the Red Raiders, and made a good showing only to fall short in the 41-38 loss.

They then turned their attention to the first Dunn-St. Croix contest of the season and their home opener.

Boyceville welcomed Garrett Maas and his Colfax boys’ team on Thursday, December 7 to try for its second overall win, and first conference win, for the season. Instead, the Vikings had the last word in the game, besting the Bulldogs 72-58.

The loss dropped the Boyceville boys to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the Dunn-St. Croix with games at Elk Mound and Plum City on December 12 and 14 respectively. The Bulldogs will then host non-conference foe Somerset in a Thursday, December 21 before taking a few days off for the Christmas holiday.

Bruce

The Bulldogs may not have left the Red Raiders’ gym with a W for their record December 5, but that does not mean they played a lackluster game.

Boyceville lost the game by just 41-38, and boasted the highest-scoring individual in senior Bryce Boda.

The senior picked up 21 points in the contest, and was followed by fellow senior Luke Knudtson who had 10. Jayson Gonzales logged three, and Cooper Boesl and Bryce Larson each dropped in buckets for two.

Bruce’s highest-scoring player was Kevin Brockman, who provided the Red Raiders with 13 points.

BOYCEVILLE 38, BRUCE 41
Boyceville……………….………23  15 — 38
Bruce………………….…………24  14 — 41

TEAM STATISTICS

Boyceville — B. Boda 21, L. Knudtson 10, J. Gonzales 3, C. Boesl 2, B. Larson 2.

Bruce — K. Brockman 13, C. Checkalski 9, K. Chafer 7, T. Anderson 6, J. Zimmerman 2, D. Brockman 2, D. Anderson 2.

Colfax

Give the Bulldogs credit, they stuck with the Vikings for the first nine minutes of their December 7 Dunn-St. Croix and home opener, but then things started to get away from them after that thanks to Colfax’s new-found aggression in getting to the basket.

“We just couldn’t stop them,” Boyceville head coach Ben Luer said after the game. “It’s always the first game with them, they always seem to come in playing like it’s midseason.”

Luer is confident his team can learn how to stop the Vikings for their second matchup later this season, but that did not seem to help matters December 7 when the Colfax squad took the win with a 72-58 win over the home team.

Boyceville held a 19-17 lead midway through the first half, but Colfax became more aggressive under the basket both defensively and offensively. The result was the Bulldogs going to the halftime break trailing 40-26.

The Vikings continued to capitalize on the advantage their aggressive defense provided to lead the game by 24 at one point in the second half. The Bulldogs were not quite finished with the visiting squad, though, and pulled back to within 14 by the time regulation time ran out.

Seniors Luke Knudtson and Bryce Boda led both Boyceville and the game in scoring with 18 and 17 points respectively. Logan Knudtson put up another eight points, Jaden Reisimer recorded six, Cooper Boesl scored four, Brady Nye hit a three-point shot, and Jayson Gonzales had a single field goal for two.

Colfax’s highest-scoring player was junior Ben Thompson, who recorded 15 points for the night.

COLFAX 72, BOYCEVILLE 58
Colfax……………………..…….40  32 — 72
Boyceville…………………..…..26  32 — 58

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Colfax (29-9-11-72) — B. Thompson 6-1-0-15, G. Scharlau 6-0-1-13, T. Rothbauer 0-0-1-0, E. Hydukovich 2-0-2-4, M. Reisdorf 4-3-0-11, T. Teige 5-0-3-10, J. Hellmann 3-3-2-9, L. Heidorn 3-1-1-9, B. Schindler 0-0-1-0, T. Sarauer 0-1-0-1.

Boyceville (22-1-15-58) — B. Boda 6-0-4-17, J. Reisimer 2-0-3-6, C. Boesl 2-0-3-4, Lo. Knudtson 3-0-0-8, J. Gonzales 1-0-1-2, C. Klefstad 0-0-2-0, B. Nye 1-0-0-3, Lu. Knudtson 7-1-2-18.

THREE-POINTERS
C — B. Thompson 2, G Scharlau 1, L. Heidorn 2; B — B. Boda 5, J. Reisimer 2, Lo. Knudtson 2, B. Nye 1, Lu. Knudtson 3.