Lady Bulldogs bow out in regional opener

OSSEO — A poor first-half performance doomed the Boyceville girls’ basketball team in its regional opener in Osseo last week.

Despite a much better offensive effort in the second half, Boyceville could not over come its slow start and fell to Osseo-Fairchild, 61 to 48, in a WIAA girls’ division 4 regional opener played in the Thunders’ home gymnasium Tuesday, February 23.

The Lady Bulldogs struggled on both ends of court in the first half and found themselves down by 16 points at the intermission. The Thunder had a comfortable 33-17 advantage at halftime of the contest between the lower sectional’s number eight and nine seeds.

“We got off to a slow start both defensively and offensively,” said Jolene Bird, Boyceville head coach.

“We had at least 8 unforced turnovers in the first four minutes of the game and were unable to convert on easy shots which led to a unsettled team,” continued the Bulldogs’ coach.

“Unfortunately, we played a very poor first half and dug too big of a hole to climb out of,” added Bird. “It was a very disappointing loss because we played so poorly.”

Senior Jenna Beyrer and junior Madysn Riek kept the Bulldogs’ offense afloat in the first half. The pair each had seven points apiece to account for all but three of Boyceville’s first-half production. Beyrer connected on a pair of hoops and a three while Riek had a two-point, a trey and two free tosses.

The Bulldogs only other points in the first 18 minutes of play were provided by a Emma Harnisch basket and a Cassie Malean free throw.

Meanwhile, Brooke Freitag and Andrea Kubishak sparked the Thunders’ offensive sets hitting for 11 and nine points respectively in the first half. Sophiah Filla chipped in seven to give Osseo-Fairchild (8-16) a sizable advantage over Boyceville at the break.

Beyrer and Riek continued to lead the Bulldogs’ offense in the latter half. Both scored nine points in the final 18 minutes to top the Bulldogs’ scoring with 16 points a piece. Beyrer finished the second half with a trio of threes while Riek hit three conventional baskets and was three-for-four from the charity stripe.

Cassie Malean woke from a first-half slumber to score nine of her ten points in the second half while Morgan Kuhn scored all three of her game points via second-half free throws and Emma Harnisch added a free throw to also tally three points.

Despite scoring 33 points after halftime, Boyceville did little to cut into Osseo-Fairchild’s lead.

Kubishak scored ten more points after intermission and Katie Barney netted nine of her 11 game points during that span to help the Thunder win by 13.

The loss brought an end to the 2015-16 hardcourt season for the Lady Bulldogs who finished with a 7-16 mark.

“I would like to thank our two seniors, Marki Lagerstrom and Jenna Beyrer, for their hard work this season,” concluded Bird.