Bulldog boys’ skid continues; drop games to Durand, Stanley-Boyd

By Cara L. Dempski

BOYCEVILLE — The Boyceville boys’ basketball team played and lost two home games in two days before taking a break prior to its match-up with Glenwood City Monday night.

The Bulldogs held their own against Durand, the top team in the Dunn-St. Croix, during their January 20 home loss. Despite the score, which was a 64-40 loss for the Bulldogs, head coach Ben Luer was pleased with how well his team performed against the Durand Panthers. He said he was glad to see the team not giving up against a tough opponent.

The Bulldogs turned around and played a second game Saturday evening against the Stanley-Boyd Orioles as part of a home non-conference double-header with the girls’ teams. Boyceville could not score as much as they had the previous evening against Durand, and fell to the Orioles 63-38.

Those two loses extended the Boyceville boys’ losing streak to five games.

After a one-day break, the Boyceville squad hosted rival Glenwood City in a game rescheduled from January 17. The Bulldogs will host Spring Valley on January 26, and Elmwood/Plum City on January 31. The team had a 0-6 DSC record as it stepped into the January 23 game against the Hilltoppers and 2-11 overall.

Durand

Scoreboards are sometimes terrible indicators of a team’s skill and in-game abilities. Just ask Boyceville head coach Ben Luer.

His Bulldog boys may have lost their January 20 contest against the Durand Panthers, the DSC’s current top team, but he saw a lot of good in the match-up.

“We played really good, and I told the guys we made them (Durand) switch what they usually do,” Luer stated after the game. “Durand usually presses the whole game. We made them switch their defense.”

The Boyceville coach added he thought it was “kind of cool” for his players to acknowledge that they had accomplished something other teams in the conference had yet to. The Bulldogs forced Durand to adjust to the home team’s style of play. 

The Bulldogs held their own against the Panthers in the opening half. While the Boyceville team trailed by up to eight points at times, they were able to narrow the gap to a four-point deficit heading into the halftime break with a score of 27-23. Juniors Bryce Boda and Luke Knudtson comprised the core offense in the first half. Knudtson led the charge with 12 points.

It seemed that the Panthers figured a few things out during halftime, because they came out for the second half with a more aggressive style of play. While the Bulldogs had just as many good looks as the Panthers in the second half, they had difficulty getting shots to fall. 

Boyceville stayed close on Durand’s heels in the first nine minutes of the second half with the help of identical base-line shots by Luke Knudtson from outside the arc, but eventually started to fall away as the Panthers stepped up to the free throw line time after time. Durand was six for nine from the line in the second half.

Knudtson led the Bulldogs with 20 points, while Boda’s final total was 14. Gonzalez, Cooper Boesl and Bryce Larson all picked up two points.

Luer praised his team, and spoke of his hopes for next season, saying, “we’re getting better. They’re all coming back, they’re all young, and they’ll learn.”

Nate Siebenaler scored 14 points to lead the Durand effort.

DURAND 64, BOYCEVILLE 40
Durand……………………………..27  37 — 64
Boyceville…………………………23  17 — 40

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Durand (22-8-14-64) B. Sabelko 1-0-1-8, G. Polzer 2-0-2-4, W. Berger 2-0-1-7, E. Bauer 0-0-2-0, N. Siebenaler 7-0-1-14, R. Hanson 1-4-3-6, B. Schlosser 3-4-2-13, K. Humphrey 1-0-1-2, J. Anibas 5-0-1-10.

Boyceville (10-7-14-40) B. Boda 3-1-3-14, C. Boesl 1-0-3-2, Lo. Knudtson 0-0-2-0, J. Gonzalez 1-0-5-2, B. Larson 1-0-1-2, Lu. Knudtson 4-6-0-20.

THREE-POINTERS D — B. Sabelko 2, W. Berger 1, B. Schlosser 1; B — B. Boda 2, Lu. Knudtson 2.

Stanley-Boyd

The Bulldogs did not appear to have fared as well against the Orioles in their January 21 match-up. Boyceville lost the game 63-38.

“I think they were tired from the night before,” coach Ben Luer said of the team.

Luke Knudtson led the Bulldogs and the game with his individual score of 23 points. Jayson Gonzalez scored six points, Bryce Boda logged five, and Cooper Boesl recorded four points.

The Orioles’ leading scorer was Zak Ingersoll, who scored 14 points.

STANLEY-BOYD 63, BOYCEVILLE 38
Stanley-Boyd……………………..28 35 — 63
Boyceville………………………….23 15 — 38

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Stanley-Boyd (15-6-10-63) B. Herrick 2-0-3-10, L. Schmelzer 1-0-1-8, T. Chwala 0-3-0-3, B. Miles 2-0-1-13, A. Schneider 3-2-2-11, Z. Ingersoll 5-1-0-14, B. Nichols 1-0-1-2, H. Koenig 1-0-2-2.

Boyceville (15-2-11-38) B. Boda 2-1-3-5, C. Boesl 2-0-0-4, Lo. Knudtson 0-0-2-0, J. Gonzalez 3-0-3-6, H. Spenle 0-0-1-0, Lu. Knudtson 8-1-0-23, B. Sempf 0-0-2-0.

THREE-POINTERS SB — B. Herrick 2, L. Schmelzer 2, B. Miles 3, A. Schneider 1, Z. Ingersoll 1; B — Lu. Knudtson 2.