Bulldog boys run down by Mondovi Buffaloes

MONDOVI — Wanted – a complete game!

The Boyceville boys’ basketball team has been trying all season to put together a solid 36 minutes of play on both sides of the ball.

It didn’t happen in Mondovi Saturday afternoon, January 16 as the winless Bulldogs dropped a 63-44 decision to the Buffaloes after trailing by just two points at intermission.

“We have had a hard time putting two good halves together all season,” said Boyceville’s second-year head coach Ben Luer.

“Our guys know that we need to be more consistent offensively and get stops defensively when it counts,” added Luer.

Boyceville was unable to do either against Mondovi as it fell to 0-5 in Dunn-St. Croix action and 0-11 overall.

The Boyceville offense stayed with the hosts in the first half as it scored 26 points including four threes and was within a basket when the teams went to halftime. Boyceville finished with six treys.

Micadin Kahl had a pair of triples and a conventional two pointer in the opening 18 minutes of action and Bryce Boda had 11 points including a three to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance at 28-26.

But the Bulldogs’ offensive output tailed off in the second half as did their defensive effort.

Kahl stayed hot after the break, scoring ten of this game-high 18 points in the second half including two more threes.

But just two other Bulldogs got on the board in the second half. Luke Knudtson and Boda each had a pair of baskets as Boyceville’s latter-half offensive production fell to just 18 points.

Meanwhile, Mondovi hit the offensive accelerator and scored 35 second-half points to pull away for a 63-44 victory.

Greg Poeschel led the Buffaloes with 15 points, ten of which came in the second half, followed by 12 each from Braden Becker and Blake Purdy. In all, nine Mondovi players scored points.

Just five Bulldogs scored in the contest. Kahl’s 18-point effort was followed by Bryce Boda with 15 points and six from Luke Knudtson.

Boda also had five assists and had three steals along as did Hunter Anderson. Knudtson finished with ten of Boyceville’s 19 rebounds.

Boyceville hosted Plum City/Elmwood last evening (Tuesday, January 19) and will travel to rival Glenwood City Friday, January 22. The Toppers are also without a conference win although they did pick up their first win of the season in a non-conference game against Somerset last week. Boyceville will return home the following Monday, January 25 for a non-conference contest with Turtle Lake.