Boyceville boys looking to chase after another title

By Kelsie Hoitomt

BOYCEVILLE – After winning their first regional championship in ten years and falling short to Colfax in the Sectional Championship, the Bulldogs are in search of another title.

The team lost four seniors including their top three leading scorers, Kyle Franseen who was All Northwest Honorable Mention, Ryan Bloom who was All Conference and Luke Hellmann along with Jake Dotseth.

However, the Bulldogs gain experience and strength in returning players Mike Lagerstrom who is a second year starter at point guard, Ryan Williams who is the team’s top defensive player and returning starter as well as Zach Klassen and junior Jordan Kuhn.

Also looking to be a strong asset to the team is senior Matt Leach, who is a great communicator and sophomores Brady Schutts, Mitch Leach, Jake McIntyre, Justin Schulz and Tyler Draeger.

According to head coach Jay Lagerstrom, who is returning for his sixth year, the goal this year is to continue to be one of the better defensive teams in the conference. He also wants to see improvements each week and hopefully have the team peak at the right time.

The Bulldogs strengths this season look to be with their ball handling, but Lagerstrom says their biggest worry is going to be with rebounding due to their starting lineup not being very big physically.

Lagerstrom says that Colfax looks to be their top competitor because of their physical size and the fact that they are returning the majority of their players from last season.

“Elmwood also looks to have a good mixture of size and speed and Elk Mound is returning some key players from a very successful team that plays disciplined basketball,” shared Lagerstrom.

Along side Lagerstrom is assistant coach Troy Kuhn. The Bulldogs who will step onto the floor for the first game on November 15 against Elk Mound starting at 7:30 p.m.

Bulldogs’ Roster

• Seniors: Zach Klassen, Matt Leach, Mike Lagerstrom, Ryan Williams.

• Junior: Jordan Kuhn

• Sophomores: Jake McIntrye, Tyler Draeger, Justin Schulz, Brady Schutts, Mitch Leach.

• Freshman: Buddy Hanestad, Wyatt Swenson, Andrew Marshall, Hunter Anderson, Sam Hellmann, Jason Retzloff.