Boyceville girls beaten by Durand, Somerset

The Lady Bulldogs got half the equation for success right.

Boyceville played outstanding defense when it traveled to Durand last Thursday, December 3 for the girls’ conference basketball opener.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about its offense.

As a result, Boyceville found itself on the wrong side of a 44-28 score after it shot just 21 percent from the field including an abysmal 2 for 21 from beyond the three-point arc.

“We played phenomenal defense but we struggled to score,” said Boyceville head coach Jolene Bird of the loss to unbeaten Durand.

“We had plenty of looks at the basket but just could not get them to fall especially from three-point range.”

The loss to Durand, who made its debut as the newest member of the Dunn-St. Croix against Boyceville, coupled with a lopsided 71-38 home loss to Somerset two days prior, left the Bulldogs (0-3) winless on the young season.

Boyceville returns home to host a pair of conference contests this week. A much improved Spring Valley (4-0) squad was in town last night (Tuesday, December 8) to take on the Bulldogs who will then host seven-time defending conference champion Colfax Friday, December 11 in the Dog House.

A year ago, Durand captured the Middle Border championship with an unblemished conference record and finished 24-2 after a heartbreaking one-point loss to Hayward in the WIAA Division 3 sectional finals.

But the Panthers said goodbye to six outstanding seniors and the Middle Border after last season.

Despite several new faces on the court, Durand’s long-standing tradition of excellence should make it a contender in its new home – the Dunn-St. Croix – as Boyceville witnessed first-hand last Thursday.

Boyceville’s lock-down defensive effort had allowed Durand, who had averaged 35.5 points in the opening half of its first two victories, just 23 points in the first half of the game.

The problem was the Bulldogs were having a hard time finding the basket on its end of the floor and finished with just 13 points in 18 minutes.

Cassie Malean, who averages more than 13 points per game for the Bulldogs’, finished the first half and the game without a point. In fact, the junior guard attempted just five shots all game.

At half time, Madysn Riek and Emma Harnisch led the way with four points each. Just two other Bulldogs had scored – Morgan Kuhn had a triple and Marki Lagerstrom sank both of her free throws.

Durand, meanwhile, had eight players crack the scorebook in the opening half.

While the defense continued to hold the potent Panthers’ offensive in check in the latter half, Boyceville’s offensive effort saw only minimal gains in the second half.

Riek, who led all scorers with 14 points, carried the offense in the second frame as she scored ten of the team’s 15 points during that span. Jenna Beyrer netted a trey and Kuhn tossed down a convention bucket for the other Bulldogs’ scores.

The Panthers’ 21-15 second-half scoring edge yielded a 44-28 victory that moved them to 3-0 and 1-0 in D-SC action. Although eight Panthers scored points in the game, none finished with more than seven.

Riek also corralled five of the Bulldogs’ 17 rebounds. Emma Harnisch, Marissa Dormanen and Morgan Kuhn each had a pair of boards.

Somerset Soars

Stopping the Spartans proved to be a Herculean task for the Lady Bulldogs.

Somerset dominated the non-conference girls’ basketball game played in Boyceville Tuesday, December 1 from start to finish as it nearly doubled up the Bulldogs in its 71-38 win.

Tori Martell scored a game-high 25 points for the Lady Spartans who vaulted to a 35-18 half-time lead.

Somerset netted five treys and seven deuces in the first 18 minutes of play and made good on six of its seven free throw attempts. It would sink another five triples in the second half.

Jenna Beyrer and Brooklyn Booth each nailed three-point shots for Boyceville in the first half but the Bulldogs had just two other buckets during that period and misfired on half of its 12 foul shots.

In the second half, Madysn Riek tallied six of her team-leading 11 points while Cassie Malean added five points and finished with ten. But it was not nearly enough as the Bulldogs continued to struggle from the field and the line (just 3 of 8) and were outscored in the final half, 36-20.

Boyceville, who finished less than 50 percent at the charity line (9 of 20), made just one three-point shot (by Malean) in the second half.

Brooklyn Booth and Jenna Beyrer each finished with five points, Morgan Kuhn had three points on a basket and a free throw and both Marki Lagerstrom and Emma Harnisch scored a basket to finish with two points.

Martell was responsible for four of Somerset’s ten, three-point goals and was a perfect three-for-three from the line where the Spartans finished 13 of 19. Avery Gunther was the only other Spartan to crack double digits in the scoring column as she finished with 13 points. Somerset had six other players score.