Tough luck continues for the Boyceville Bulldogs

By Laura Giammattei

BOYCEVILLE —The Bulldogs just can’t seem to catch a break this season.

The Boyceville Bulldogs wrapped up the 2015-2016 regular season last week when they were defeated 66-24 on Monday, February 22 against the Unity Eagles, followed by another 61-49 loss at home to the Mondovi Buffaloes on Thursday, February 25.

In Unity, the Bulldogs shot often but struggled to score early on and could not manage to hit any kind of stride throughout the entirety of the match.

Meanwhile, the Lakeland-West conference-leading Eagles dominated both ends of the court with a zone defense and an eclectic array of talented shooters.

Unity athlete Cody Ince topped the board for the Eagles with 14 points. He shot well inside the arc late in the first half, where he scored the majority of his points. Seniors Logan Bader and Eric Peterson contributed a combined 22 points, and eight other athletes shared the remaining thirty points added before the end of the game.

For the Bulldogs, junior Micadin Kahl managed to put up two two-point field goals early in the first half and another two-point basket in the second, while sophomore Luke Knudtson held the team high of eight points. He dropped the ball in for two deep in the first half and sank a three-point basket deep in the second. He also connected on two of his three attempts at the free throw line.

As Boyceville head coach, Ben Luer would summarize: “We struggled to score against a good basketball team that is predicted to make it to state. We really struggled with the length of Unity’s front line. They were the biggest and most talented team we played all year and it was hard to get points against their zone. We didn’t help ourselves out by shooting 1-15 from the three-point line, either. If some of those shots go in early we might of had the confidence to play with them.”

The Bulldogs moved on to play their last regular season game at home three days later on Thursday, February 25, where they played a much better game but unfortunately could not come up with a win.

During the first half, the Bulldogs shot much better than they had in Unity and kept within one point of the Buffaloes by the halftime buzzer. However, their hopes slowly began to slip away in the second half as Mondovi started to pull ahead and despite some big shots from the Bulldogs down the home stretch, they just did not have enough time remaining and gas in the tank to overcome the deficit.

The main threat on the floor for the evening was Mondovi senior Blake Purdy, who scored a very impressive 27 points for the Buffaloes, well over double the points any other athlete on the court was able to put on the board. All of his points originated within the arc and at the free throw line. Alongside Purdy was junior Branden Becker, who balanced the Mondovi offense with a total of three arc buckets. He also connected on one of two attempts at the line to follow Purdy with 10 points.

For the Bulldogs, the majority of their offensive success came from the perimeter. Five athletes hit baskets from beyond the arc to accumulate 27 of their total 49 points for the night. Kahl dropped three threes into the net, followed by Knudtson with two. Hanestad and sophomores Cooper Boesl and Bryce Boda each contributed one rainbow a piece before the game came to an end.

Their efforts were just not enough to overcome Purdy’s own 27 points and the Bulldogs left the court defeated once again.

“We were one point down at halftime and it slipped away from us in the second half,” stated Luer. “We made a late run to pull within five and we hit some big shots down the stretch. We played better as a team this game and focused on controlling the ball. We won the time of possession battle in the first half 11 minutes to six minutes, but lost the second half time of possession and that resulted in the score we ended with.”

The Bulldogs were seeded against the Vikings in the first WIAA regional playoff game which was held in Colfax yesterday, Tuesday, March 1. Results of this game will be printed in next week’s issue.