Bulldog boys edge Hilltoppers for first victory of season
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CONTESTED SHOT — Walker Retz (#2) of Boyceville blocked the jump shot of Glenwood City’s Brandyn Hallquist (#0) during the rivals basketball game in Glenwood City last Friday night, December 20. The Bulldogs won, 34-33, on a free throw with five seconds to play.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
GOING AIR BORNE for two of his game-high 15 points was Boyceville senior Logan Knudtson (#14). He helped lead the Bulldogs to their first basketball victory of the season, a 34-33 thriller over the rival Hilltoppers in Glenwood City on December 20.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
By Missy Klatt
Sports Correspondent
GLENWOOD CITY — It was Parents’ Night in Glenwood City when the Boyceville Bulldogs came to town for a boys’ basketball game where both teams started the night without a win. Friday, December 20th will be recorded as the Bulldogs first win of the 2019-2020 season as they edged out the host Hilltoppers by one point to win 34-33.
Boyceville senior Logan Knutson’s free throw with 5.1 seconds broke the deadlock and proved to be the game winner when Glenwood City’s final shot attempt by Brandyn Hallquist fell short of the rim as time expired.
In a less than stellar first half, both teams struggled to sink their shots, while the Hilltoppers also had trouble with turnovers. As a result it was a very low scoring half.
Just after two minutes of play, the Toppers were the first to put points on the board with a turnaround jumper in the key from Brandyn Hallquist. Less than a minute later, the Bulldogs scored their first points of the game when Cade Klefstad hit for two under the basket.
After several misses (from both teams) and a really nice block from Cade Klefstad, Hallquist was able to add two more points for the Toppers with 10:25 left on the clock. The Bulldogs then added eight unanswered points with three pointers from Logan Knudtson and Walker Retz and then two from Knudtson with a drive down the court. The Bulldogs now had a 10-4 lead.
Both teams went dry over the next four minutes before the Toppers finally got back on the board with a two-point shot from Jordan Klatt under the basket. The Bulldogs followed this up with another three from Retz from the top of the arc.
After failed bonus throws from each team, the Toppers had one last chance to score in the half. With 3.7 seconds left, Drew Olson inbounded the ball under the Topper’s basket. A couple of quick passes and the ball made it back into the hands of Olson, who laid it in for two.
At the end of the first half, the Bulldogs were ahead by five with the score 13-8.
The second half looked much more like a ball game with more scoring and the teams often trading shots.
After the first five and a half minutes the Toppers and Bulldogs had each scored eight points. As play continued, the Bulldogs’ Logan Knudtson had a nice drive to the basket for two. About a minute and half later it was Topper, Cole Logghe for two.
At times, the game was a bit fast and furious with no real control from either team. The fouls started to rack up and free throws looked to be an important component of the game. With under eight minutes left in the second half, Knudtson added two more points off a fast break. The Topper, Justin Moe countered with a three pointer.
The Toppers narrowed the Bulldog lead when Olson sank both of his free throws with 6:39 on the clock.
Knudtson countered for two driving to the basket but Olson was right back at the foul line where he went one-for-two. Olson then tied the game at 27 when he hit for two off a rebound.
Over the next two minutes the Bulldogs scored four points to the Toppers two to once again take the lead at 31-29.
With just under a minute to play, Boyceville found itself at the free throw line but missed both of the shots.
Glenwood City’s Hallquist then sank a shot to tie the game once again only to see Boyceville’s Brendan Sempf drive straight down the lane and lay up a shot for two with about 24 seconds left on the clock. Ethan Hanson countered for the Toppers with a short jumper that he banked in to tie the game at 33.
With just 5.1 seconds left in the game, Knudtson found himself at the free throw line shooting a double bonus for the Dawgs. He missed his first shot but went on to sink the second which was all Boyceville needed to win as that was the last ball that went through the hoop before the end of game.
“Heart breaking loss towards the end,” was how Hilltoppers’ head coach Tristan Kittilson summed up the game.
“I appreciated the guys fight coming down the home stretch,” added Kittilson. The Toppers’ coach did concede that his team again struggled to score most of the game. On a bright note he saw some spark from the younger guys that played.
“[There’s] “A lot to learn from in this game, I think some of our younger guys came a long way in this game. Baby steps,” concluded Kittilson.
For Boyceville first-year head coach Colby Dotseth, it was all smiles as they got their first win of the season.
“It was a huge win for us, big time to get the first win out of the way,” said Dotseth of his Bulldogs.
As far as first half action, Dotseth noted, “We had good looks in the first half, took every open shot we had they just weren’t falling for us.”
In the second half, Dotseth admitted that they struggled shooting from the free throw line.
“We need to work on that big time,” stated Dotseth.
But he praised his team saying, “we did a nice job at the end keeping our composure, keeping everybody where we wanted in the final play to shut them down, I couldn’t ask for a better effort from the group, they played well.”
Dotseth is hoping that this win will give his team more confidence especially as they face Durand after the Christmas break in their next conference game on Friday, January 10th. Prior to that they will host Clayton on Friday, January 3rd in a non-conference game.
The Hilltoppers will host Ellsworth on Friday, December 27th in a non-conference game at 7:00 p.m.
Boyceville (34)
FG-FT-F-T: Retz 2-0-4-6, B. Sempf 4-0-1-9, McRoberts 0-0-2-0, Knudtson 5-4-0-15, Wendland 0-0-1-0, J. Klefstad 0-0-2-0, C. Klefstad 2-0-4-4. Total 13-4-14-34.
Glenwood City (33)
FG-FT-F-T: Hallquist 5-0-4-11, Bliese 0-0-0-0, McCarthy 0-0-2-0, Olson 3-3-2-9, Wickman 0-0-0-0, Logghe 1-0-1-2, Hanson 1-4-3-6, Swenby 0-0-3-0, Moe 1-0-2-3, Watson 0-0-0-0, Klatt 1-0-3-2, Loring 0-0-0-0. Total 12-7-20-33.
Boyceville 13 21 — 34
Glenwood City 8 25 — 33
3-point goals: Boyceville: Retz 2, B. Sempf, Knudtson. Glenwood City: Hallquist, Moe.
