Colfax boys’ basketball upended in Boyceville

By Cara L. Dempski

BOYCEVILLE — The last time the Viking boys played the Boyceville Bulldogs, Colfax scored a lopsided 62-33 victory.

So it is safe to say Colfax’s hopes were high when they traveled to Boyceville this past Friday, February 3. Those hopes were dashed at the end of regulation when Boyceville turned the tables in a big way, beating the Vikings 55-50. It was the Bulldogs’ second consecutive conference win after starting 0-8.

Coach Garrett Maas seemed stunned by the Vikings’ loss which dropped the boys to 1-8 and last place in the Dunn-St. Croix standings.

“Our shooting percentage wasn’t very good, and we had too many mental mistakes,” Maas explained. “They (Boyceville) capitalized on it. What can you do?”

Maas also said he was disappointed with how the Colfax boys played after finishing games against Elk Mound and Durand with only nine-point deficits. He said communication on defense was not very good and the Bulldogs made the Vikings pay.

Ben Thompson put the Colfax squad on the scoreboard first with a two-point shot at the 16:40 mark to snag the first score of the game. Boyceville’s Luke Knudtson snagged two points for Boyceville only seconds later, and the two teams were off and running.

The Vikings led the majority of the first half, and took a 28-24 lead into halftime, but there were sparks of ignition from the Bulldogs in the first half. The first came when Bryce Boda raced down the court on three separate fast breaks to give Boyceville a 15-13 lead, and the second was when Luke Knudtson knotted the score at 18 with 5:16 left in the first half.

Boyceville kept its cool and fought its way through the first few minutes of the second half while trailing by three points. Knutdson tied the game at 38 points at the 9:51 mark, and Boda kicked the door open less than a minute later with a big three-point shot to give the Bulldogs a 43-40 lead.

Colfax tried to pull back ahead in the game, but they just couldn’t seem to get a jump on the Bulldogs. Thompson sent up two outside shots for three in the final minute of the game, draining one with only 14.1 seconds left to put the Vikes within three points of a tie. But, Boda struck again with another fast break and two points to cap the game 55-50.

Maas said there was an argument among the team in the locker room after the game, which fueled his disappointment in the contest further. 

“It is what it is, really. We let two kids beat us,” Maas stated.

Treyton Teige earned Colfax’s top score against Boyceville with 15 points. Thompson picked up 11, and George Scharlau logged 10 points. Jacob Larson contributed seven, Adam Pretasky grabbed five points, and Matthew Reisdorf earned two on a pair of free throws.

Knudtson and Boda earned 46 of the Bulldogs’ total 55 between them with 24 and 22 points respectively.

COLFAX 50, BOYCEVILLE 55
Colfax………………………………28  22 — 50
Boyceville…………………………24  31 — 55

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Colfax (13-3-17-50) B. Thompson 1-0-4-11, J. Larson 3-1-4-7, T. Teige 6-0-2-15, G. Scharlau 2-0-2-10, A. Pretasky 1-0-3-5, M. Reisdorf 0-2-2-2.

Boyceville (19-8-10-55) B. Boda 8-0-4-22, C. Boesl 1-0-1-2, J. Gonzalez 0-2-1-2, B. Larson 1-0-1-5, L. Knudtson 9-6-2-24.

THREE-POINTERS C — B. Thompson 3, T. Teige 1, G. Scharlau 2, A. Pretasky 1; B — B. Boda 2, B. Larson 1.