Boyceville boys’ basketball looks to build on momentum, add more wins

PROTECTED CONTENT

Please enter your login information to view this article.

Username

Password

Login

Lost your password?

Username and Password Help

Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.

Email

Submit

← Back

By Missy Klatt

Sports Correspondent

BOYCEVILLE — Colby Dotseth returns for his second year as the Boyceville Bulldogs’ head boys’ basketball coach. Last year, the team had a 4-18 record overall, 3-11 in conference play.

Dotseth commented that they didn’t achieve the team record that they had hoped for last year.

“But the second half of the season we really started to compete well and had multiple single-digit games down the stretch,” noted Dotseth. “So hopefully that momentum to go along with this year’s football success can carry over into basketball for us.”

With the loss of Logan Knudtson, Brendan Sempf and Cade Klefstad due to graduation, the Bulldogs will have big shoes to fill. Knudtson was part of the Dunn-St. Croix’s second team all-Conference and according to Dotseth all three were tremendous leaders. He also stated that they were the core of the team that combined to average thirty points a game.

Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they do have experience returning to the team. Seniors Connor Sempf, Walker Retz and Connor Larson all played significant varsity minutes last year. Junior John Klefstad who contributed a lot on the varsity down the stretch, will be a big asset for the Bulldogs with his size and length remarked Dotseth.

Other returning letter winners include seniors Trevor Hollister, Brendan Hazelton and juniors Kole Wruck and Beck Wendland. Some other players that could potentially see some varsity action are sophomores Jackson Phillips, Mason Bowell, Simon Evenson and Chase Hollister. Dotseth noted that they also have a pretty talented freshmen class and he wouldn’t rule out a couple of them contributing on varsity as well.

Dotseth feels that this year’s team will be strong on defense and rebounding. He feels fortunate that their numbers are up this year with twenty-four players out and that they have a lot of size on both varsity and JV.

As far as a weakness this year, Dotseth commented that it would be ball handling and having no true scorer.

“We have a lot of scoring to replace and this early in the year it’s hard to say who will contribute the most, I think it will be a balanced team effort to make up for it,” stated Dotseth.

The Bulldogs’ main goal this year is to improve on last year. Dotseth would like to at least double their number of wins and move up in the conference standings. To get there, the Dawgs plan to go out every night and compete and try to keep games within a possession to give them a chance to get a win on a nightly basis.

Dotseth pegs Durand and Spring Valley as two of the toughest teams in the conference.

“Durand won conference and welcomes back a majority of their team so they will be a tough matchup at the top of the conference, as well as Spring Valley always competes at the top of the conference so they will be up in the standings as well I think,” said Dosseth.

He went on to say every school in the Dunn-St. Croix has potential to compete and be successful just a question of who can perform.

In this year of COVID-19, there are bound to be changes in the schedule but as of now teams will be trying to play as many games as possible. The Bulldogs are scheduled to start the season on Thursday, December 3rd when they travel to Prairie Farm. They then host the Glenwood City Hilltoppers on Tuesday, December 8th.

2020-21 Team Roster

Seniors: Connor Sempf, Trevor Hollister, Brendan Hazelton, Walker Retz and Connor Larson

Juniors: John Klefstad, Beck Wendland, Kole Wruck and Isaac Bartz

Sophomores: Mason Bowell, Jack Phillips, Chase Hollister, Simon Evenson, Frank Fetzer and Devin Lunderville

Freshmen: Nick Olson, Peter Wheeldon, Tate Downey, Braden Roemhild, Caden Wold, Grant Kaiser, Zach Kersten, Devin Halama and Parker Coombs