Lady Vikings dumped by Durand, bounce back against Boyceville

After playing one of their better games of the season back in early December in a 65-60 win over Durand, things didn’t go quite as smooth for the Colfax girls when they traveled to face those same Panthers Jan. 26. The Vikings watched a 16 point lead in the first half disappear and dropped the contest 57-49, but three days later, the Vikings took care of business for the second time this season with a 41-22 win at home over Boyceville.

Durand

Led by Dempsey Fogarty’s nine points and seven by Savannah Henricks along with committing just four turnovers, the Vikings held a 31-21 lead at the half. But adjustments made by the Durand coach which included switching to a match-up zone that gave the Vikings fits by forcing 18 turnovers, along with hitting their first five shots of the half allowed the Panthers to quickly overcome the Colfax lead.

Fogarty came up with a trio of deuces while Henricks added six points herself but the rest of the team combined for just six points while a pair of Panther freshmen combined for 23 points in the half to keep their team ahead.

“We played great for the first 15 minutes and had them on the ropes with a 16 point lead,” coach Joe Doucette said. “But we lost our momentum and struggled on offense the last 21 minutes. We knew Durand was a good team and we couldn’t finish them off. Their two freshmen (Emily Annis and Emma Hansen) really attacked us and combined to score 37 of their points. You could see our team deflate after losing that big lead. We needed better offense and better adjustments by me in the second half and we didn’t get it done.”

Fogarty led the Vikings with 15 points and Henricks added 13. Colfax hit 9 of 16 free throws in the contest with just two triples while Durand was 18 for 26 from the charity stripe and had six treys  Hansen knocked down 10 of 11 free throws and a pair of three pointers for the Panthers.

Durand (57) Hansen 4-10-11-20, Annis 5-4-5-17, A. Schlosser 4-3-4-12, K. Brion 2-0-0-5,M. Radle 1-0-0-2, R. Prissel 0-1-2-1

Colfax (49) Fogarty 6-3–15, Henricks 5-2-4-13, A. Dachel 3-2-2-9, A. Heidorn 2-1-4-5, E. Hurlburt 2-0-0-4, M. Schleusner 1-0-0-2, H. Durand-Christianson 0-1-2-1

Three pointers: Annis 2, Hansen 2, Henricks 1, Dachel 1, Schlosser 1, Brion 1

Boyceville

After soundly beating the Bulldogs 58-23 back in December, the Vikings didn’t have such an easy time this time around after they struggled in the long range shooting department. Luckily, they were finding openings in the lane as Henricks scored the first six points for Colfax on three shots near the hoop. Ally Heidorn added five points on a deuce, a free toss and another deuce to open an 11-3 lead and Fogarty, taking advantage of Boyceville’s seventh team foul with 8:30 left in the half, knocked down a pair of free throws to up the advantage to 13-3.

After getting the lead to 18-5 on Fogarty’s short jumper and another old fashioned three point play by Heidorn, the Colfax defense lost track of Brooklyn Booth who knocked down back to back triples in a 20 second span to cut the Colfax lead to 18-11. But they tightened things up and didn’t allow the Bulldogs to score any more points, while Henricks canned two free throws and Megan Schleusner drained a trey as they led 25-11 at the intermission.

“Neither team looked very comfortable on offense,” Doucette said. “The difference was we got off to a better start. Defensively, it was very physical.”

Despite connecting on just 1 of 22 shots from behind the three point circle and just 12 of 24 free throws in the game, the Vikings scored enough  points from close range in the second half to keep building on their lead. Heidorn scored on two straight possessions from the paint and Fogarty added another deuce and it was 31-11. Heidorn then snagged an offensive rebound and dropped it in, and after Emma Hurlburt scored on a put back and knocked down a pair of free tosses it was 37-16. Both offenses went stagnant for the next few minutes and the Vikings scored their final four points from the foul line with Alyssa Dachel hitting two and Heidorn and Bryana Buchanan one each.

“We defended well all night and made them work for their shots,” Doucette said. “Boyceville is a well coached team and they are physical. Any win is a good win for us and we really want to finish strong in the next few weeks.”

Heidorn finished with a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Vikings. Fogarty collected six points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots, Buchanan led in assists with five, Hurlburt blocked a pair of shots and Dachel and Heidorn both swiped the ball three times. After scoring eight points in the first half, Henricks was injured just before the break and did not play the second half.

Colfax (41) Heidorn 7-3-10-17, Henricks 3-2-2-8, Fogarty 2-2-3-6, Hurlburt 1-2-3-4, Schleusner 1-0-0-3, Dachel 0-2-4-2, Buchanan 0-1-2-1

Boyceville (22) Booth 2-0-0-6, M. Riek 2-0-0-4, M. Lagerstrom 1-0-0-3, C. Malean 1-0-2-3, J. Beyrer 1-0-0-2, E. Harnisch 1-0-2-2, M. Kuhn 1-0-0-2

Three pointers: Booth 2, Schleusner 1, Lagerstrom 1, Malean 1